Hamilton’s Student Advisory Council Meeting Recap: November 3
Photo from Anete Lusina via Pexels.
The meeting was initiated by conversation concerning the establishment of a regular study hall, separate from AP focus. With the current system, only students enrolled in two AP classes are eligible for an AP focus, so the new proposal would open up a study hall or focus block to a wide range of students. Students expressed varied views about this idea.
The committee largely agreed that some students heavily involved in extracurriculars, but not enrolled in AP classes, might need additional time to finish their schoolwork. Though students struggling with school may need a different type of support, students heavily involved in extracurriculars could benefit from another general study hall.
Some concerns were expressed that a study hall may be simply used to waste time. To address this, there may be additional requirements for this study hall such as grade checks – ensuring students maintain acceptable academics, and if they don’t, they would be moved to another teacher who can provide direct support.
This study hall would be ineligible to drop in order to go home (this is a current option with AP focus blocks during first or fourth block), but there may be the introduction of “senior free periods.” This would be a privilege only available to seniors who don’t have a disciplinary history and maintain good grades. There may be a possible application to apply for this privilege, but nothing concrete has been decided.
Our conversations then moved to discussing the credit requirement of Hamilton compared to similar schools in the area. Hamilton currently requires 28 credits to graduate, but students can take up to 32. Other similar schools within our area have required as low as 24 credits to graduate. Some thought that lowering our credit requirement to graduate may allow for more flexibility in having the time to take a study hall or support period.
