“I have more time to get my homework done,” Santiago said. “If I have a lot of homework in other classes that I need to do and I don’t have enough time to do English, I’ll just pick another day.”
The High School District 230 blended classes program has set parameters for students to meet with their teacher periodically, officials said.
“It’s providing them flexibility,” said Kelli Lattyak, assistant principal for instruction at Andrew. “It’s preparing them for when they leave school, when people aren’t going to be necessarily hovering over them all the time.”
Demeri Pajic, who teaches the blended English class offered the last period at Andrew, said each Monday she posts all the course work to be completed by Friday.
Students then complete the work at their own pace, possibly completing assignments in the one or two days when their schedules are least demanding, Pajic said. Students can also follow her recommended timeline.
Keane said she completes the week’s assignment within a day or two, and then uses the blended period portion of her schedule to work on other school assignments. Santiago said she’ll do the majority of the work within a day, and then maybe take another day or two to finish up the week’s work.
“They work at their own pace,” Pajic said.
The district started the program during the 2019-2020 school year, Lattyak said, but the program ended amid the COVID-19 pandemic as all students did e-learning. The district decided to bring the program back this school year, she said.
“It took a little bit of time to get it back with the same level of vigor in the eyes of our students,” Lattyak said. “Now that students are coming out of the pandemic haze, they’re very interested in it and they’re looking for additional ways to get classes into their schedules.”
At Andrew, there are two blended classes: two sections of blended English for juniors and one math class for seniors, Lattyak said. There are 76 Andrew students taking a blended course, she said.
The classes at Andrew are offered either during “zero” hour, at the start of the school day, or for eighth period at the end of the day, Lattyak said.
At Stagg High School in Palos Hills, the science department has 158 students in blended courses for biology, honors biology, honors chemistry, advanced placement physics, honors anatomy and physiology, said District 230 spokeswoman Jennifer Waterman. A health course will be offered next semester, she said.
At Sandburg High School in Orland Park, 32 students take a blended advanced placement psychology class at the start of the day, Waterman said.
For the first two weeks of school, students attended classes in person to meet their teacher, familiarize themselves with the online tools and learn about the class structure and expectations, Pajic said.
The teachers determine how often they meet with students, Lattyak said. Pajic said she meets with them two days every other week. But if a student’s grade drops below a C, he or she has to attend the class in person until their grade improves, Lattyak said.
Students can also meet with their teacher during their assigned class period if they need help, Lattyak said. During her eighth hour blended class period, Pajic said she’s in her classroom in case a student comes to meet with her.
“Then I can sit down and walk through anything,” Pajic said. “They can come in on those optional days, that they’re not required to be there, to get that one-on-one help with me.”
Otherwise, students use their blended program period to meet their needs, such as going to work, completing homework for other classes or sleeping in if they have a morning class, Lattyak said.
Both Santiago and Keane said they usually go home to do assignments during their blended period, but occasionally they complete work at the school library.
Keane said taking the blended course is preparing her for classes she’ll take in college. Likewise, Santiago said meeting as a class every other week is preparing her for college, where most classes don’t meet every day.
Pajic said the blended courses also help students learn to organize schedules, meet deadlines and communicate electronically. The skills the blended courses teach will help the students in college and the workforce, she said.
“I think it’s great that we can give students a bunch of different options and opportunities for learning because people learn in all different ways and forms,” Pajic said. “The more different ways that we can change our ways of teaching to meet all different types of learning for students is going to be beneficial.”
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