DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9710310213

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 20   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

SCHOOL BULLETIN BOARD - CHESAPEAKE

Here's a look at what happened at the School Board meeting last Monday:

Time for the 2.0

The board voted unanimously to pass a policy requiring students involved in Virginia High School League activities, including sports, to maintain a 2.0 minimum grade-point average.

While many of the details still need to be worked out - such as whether the 2.0 minimum should be extended to the middle school level, what form the after-school study halls should take and whether transportation will be provided - the board decided to go ahead and approve the idea ``in concept'' with the understanding that the administration will keep them apprised of the details as it goes along.

For now though, it looks as though students will need to maintain a 2.0 G.P.A. each semester in grades 9-12, although they will be given one probationary semester in which they will be allowed to participate even if their grades dip below the 2.0.

Voluntary after-school study halls could be in place by the end of the week - with Nichols recommending that schools have three 45-minute study halls per week. The study halls will be available to all students regardless of whether they participate in VHSL activities, although they will only become mandatory for VHSL participants who fall below the 2.0 G.P.A.

The study halls themselves eventually will be a combination of a traditional study hall where students work on their own to one where there will be tutoring available from both teachers and students, said Nichols. He added that initially the study halls will probably not include the tutoring at the level he would like to see in the future. New curriculum guides

With the implementation of the state's Standards of Learning, teachers have a lot of work ahead of them making sure they get everything in. In order to help them the district has devised standardized curriculum guides.

``We are so proud of this because this is the first time we've had a consistent format,'' said Linda Duffy Palombo, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

The curriculum guides include the standards, a mission statement, graduation goals, specific instructional activities and, of course, the curriculum itself.

``So if I'm teaching second grade, I can easily know what my students did in the first grade and will know what they're preparing for in the third grade,'' said Dan Mulligan, the district's mathematics supervisor.

Mulligan said the state's standards ``are very broad, they're not teachable,'' so the curriculum guides break them down so teachers can actually see the steps toward reaching them.

Although it may be hard to imagine anyone getting excited by a ``curriculum guide,'' Mulligan clearly was, punctuating many of his remarks with ``This is really so good.''

``I wish you were around when I was struggling in Algebra I,'' School Board Chairman Barbara B. Head joked to Mulligan.

``C'mon back,'' Mulligan said. Deep Creek attendance zones

The board held its first public hearing and work session on attendance zones for Deep Creek Central Elementary and the replacement school for Deep Creek Intermediate starting in Sept. 1999 when both schools will serve kindergarten through fifth grades.

No one showed up for the public hearing and the board's work session was short but both the board and the public will have another crack at the proposals at the meeting Nov. 10.

A decision on the plan is scheduled for the Nov. 24 meeting. For more information, call 547-1047.

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