Instead of going to their third block after second, students are now required to go to Nest. What is Nest? Nest is an intervention block between second and third blocks where you go to the class that is required that day. The block can vary depending on what the day is. So, it would be 1G if it was a G day, then 1B if it was a B day. 2G the next day, 2B the day after, and so on. Students cycle through all of their scheduled classes in 8 days. On the ninth day, they meet with their advisory class for special, planned instruction.
This plan was created last year by a volunteer committee of teachers, administrators, and students. They had three meetings where they discussed models, and the people would go back to their peers and get feedback.
“When I started school last year and realized we didn’t have one, I was a little bit like, ‘Huh, that’s strange.’ And then pretty much by December, I had heard enough feedback from students that’s like, ‘I can’t stay after, what do I do?’, ‘I need help.’, ‘I’m really struggling in this class.’, And to me, it just felt like something we had to prioritize at least getting in for the next school year because kids needed something during the day that they could get extra assistance,” said Principal Dr. Jennifer Chapman.
Chapman and other staff members had a committee last year by talking to Central Office to figure out their parameters. Interested people had a meeting about what the restrictions were and the different models they could look at. Then, incorporated feedback from said interested people into a build of what they thought the leading model was, according to Chapman.
It was not only teachers who chose this addition to the schedule. Students also suggested a similar time as well in order to keep up with work, for students who had after-school activities or work.
“We also included some AVID students on that committee, and some proposed a similar idea in one of their projects, so that allowed us to get some feedback from the school and body. So, after three meetings, we decided that this is the model we want to go with. We presented it to the staff, and now to keep it sustaining, we have subcommittees that will work on the different advisory lessons that we do to make sure we’re hitting the important points. Like, you have to do this survey every year per the state of Virginia, you have to do PSATs, and some of the lessons will be focusing on organizational skills, so helping kids learn how to use a planner to keep up with assignments, and how to organize time. And we want to do team building collaboration, and getting along with peers, because it is pretty much the number one skill needed to succeed in the workforce,” Chapman continued.
Many students value Nest because they could not stay after school or go to the Saturday Learning Seminar because they had jobs, had to babysit, had a sport, etc.
“One thing I got from students was that the teachers told them that they had to stay after or Saturday Learning Seminar, but people had jobs, so you couldn’t just leave jobs or move around plans. At every school I’ve been at, I have had some time for an intervention class, so we added it in,” said Chapman.
“We found that a lot of our students had other obligations after school, like work or taking care of younger siblings, so we wanted students to have embedded time during the school day for students to be able to get extra help, re-take a test, or get a head start on assignments,” said assistant principal, Ms. Mattea Johnson.
Osbourn has not had something like this in the past. They have had Advisory before, but not where students switch from class to class for remediation.
If you have any feedback, you should talk to the assistant principals or Dr. Chapman about it. They would like to hear others’ opinions on Nest.
“I might make changes, but I think I need more feedback now from teachers and students who are experiencing it. From my office, I’m the planner. I can make the schedule, say here’s the rotation, but I’m not sitting in those classes every day to see how it’s being implemented. We’re now at the next phase of getting feedback from our teachers. ‘How are you using that time?’, ’How are you stretching it?’, and getting feedback from students on what your teachers do best during that time. We also want to give some support to our staff who’ve never had a model like that before to realize, ‘Hey, I could maximize this time a little bit better by doing this process with my kids.’ That would help me figure out what is good standing versus who needs remediation versus who needs makeup time. Just continuing to work with our staff to make sure they’re implementing that time in the best possible way to meet the needs of support for students and not necessarily just using it as like, oh, I didn’t get to this earlier, so let’s keep learning,” said Chapman.
“I want to get feedback from students to ensure the way we are currently doing it is actually beneficial to students, but I think it is good so far,” said Johnson.
So far, Nest is getting mixed reviews. Here are some opinions from students and teachers:
“I think we shouldn’t switch and instead should have one class for it that we can go to other classes from if needed,” said junior, Amanda Kennedy.
“It’s important not to rush through this new change. Collecting and analyzing data and providing feedback allows us to know what areas are successful and what areas need more room for improvement. I believe that it’s important to adjust it in a way that benefits everyone,” said art teacher, Ms. Kim O’Brokta.
“This is a great opportunity to help narrow the achievement gap. Aside from remediation, it allows other areas, such as advisory time, where teachers can build extra rapport with them. During Nest, students can work on life skills through meaningful activities,” said O’Brokta.
“Nest is just the perfect length, and I usually just go with the flow,” said choir teacher, Mrs. Sherlee Glomb.
“I think some pros are getting more work done then, and having more time for other things, allowing us to be less stressed. Some cons may be being late to class or not knowing where to go,” said sophomore Jade Cedeno.
“Some additions could be more time added, and being able to switch to any class, so it could be more useful. A change could be not even switching the blocks, but it could be a period to complete work, like a study hall. We should also be able to go to a certain class to take a test or ask questions if we need to,” said Cedeno.
“I like the idea of an Advisory period. My middle school had an Advisory every other Wednesday; however, I don’t like the rotation of Nest. My schedule is really scattered, with a class in JLC and down the CTE hall, so I have a lot of bouncing around the school. Classes are also shorter, which I don’t really understand, as it just takes away from instructional time. I think an Advisory once a week with our old schedule would work just fine,” said senior Ian Knox.
“The pros of this new change are being able to focus on one class more than others, and I feel like NEST can be a break as well. The cons are that there is less time in all classes and there is more moving,” said sophomore Larry Franklin Lizolde.
“I do think I can get my work done during Nest because it allows me to deepen my understanding of the assignments I’m doing and allows me to finish my work,” said freshman Diogo Ferreira Pereira.
“I prefer having to go to my Honors Algebra 2 class because it’s one of the most difficult classes and I get to ask questions,” said freshman Joselin Euceda Sanchez.
“It’s a little confusing since I have to go to a different class every single day for Nest because of the different rotations every day,” said freshman Sophia Alas Morataya.
“I don’t think I’m able to finish my work in Nest,” said freshman Angela Moran
“I would like to have more free time so I can talk to my friends, but I see that as very unlikely,” said Moran
“I don’t like going to advisory because I think the assignments are repetitive and boring. If I had to change one thing about Nest, I would just get rid of the advisory class. The rest is perfectly fine,” said Ferreira Pereira.
What do you think about Nest and its rotations? Is there anything you would change about it? Let us know in the comments!
