Osbourn students have the chance to increase their learning opportunities on the weekends.

Students can attend Saturday Learning Seminars from 9 a.m. until noon on the first two Saturdays of each month through most of the school year. Those sessions will increase in the spring as the school year ends. These learning events are free and bus transportation is provided, according to SLS coordinator Arnaz Dotivala. The schedule will also vary during holidays and school breaks.

A free breakfast is also provided.

“Saturday Learning Seminar (SLS) is an initiative to provide extra help to students to achieve academic excellence. At Osbourn, you might have heard that we encourage everyone to Engage, Empower, and Excel. We also want to ensure that all of our students have every opportunity to graduate on time. SLS is one of the vehicles to ensure that our school is able to succeed in its vision and mission,” Dotivala, who is also a cosmetology teacher, said.

SLS has become increasingly popular as the school year has progressed, especially since the end of the 1st quarter has just passed.

“Last Saturday we had 136 students who took advantage of the SLS. Each week, we have seen an increase in the number of students,” said Dotivala.

This additional learning opportunity is open to all students and they can attend as many sessions as they need. Parents can also drop off their students and pick them up throughout the three-hour time span.

“All students who would like to get some extra help or simply wish to complete their homework and assignments will benefit from attending SLS. Most of our students who attend SLS arrive with a goal in mind. They have the ability to meet with a teacher or self-pace themselves. Once in a while we also have peer tutors who are able to help other students,” Dotivala added.

SLS is staffed by Osbourn teachers and help is available in all core subjects, foreign languages, and CTE.

“Select Osbourn teachers spend their Saturday teaching SLS. Many times, teachers bring a group of students before an exam,” Dotivala said. “We try to ensure we have teachers from all content areas to help our students.”

Any students who have questions about SLS can speak to any of their teachers or school staff.

“Please speak with your teachers regarding SLS,” Dotivala said. “We are also going to have an advisory lesson regarding SLS in English and Spanish, which will give students a good overview. The reminder and busing information is also posted on class pages before each session.”