Eastern York SD pilot 'Freshman Seminar' aims to catch struggling 9th graders early

At its January meeting, Assistant Principal Heidi Tyson described a pilot program called Freshman Seminar intended to identify ninth‑grade students failing two or more classes and give them daily, structured support to improve their on‑track status for graduation.

Tyson said the district started the pilot this past fall after studying the Pennsylvania Future Ready Index and local graduation data. “Our 4 year graduation rate had only been hovering, around 87 to 87 a half percent,” she said, adding the board has set a longer‑term target of 92 percent within three years.

Freshman Seminar pulls selected regular‑education freshmen into a 45‑minute enrichment period at the end of the school day. Students are asked to put phones in a designated area, receive a snack and work with a peer mentor to check current grades, set short, specific goals (for example, “complete module 1.2”), and prioritize tasks. Peer mentors were recruited from JROTC and other student leaders; Lieutenant Colonel Edmonds helped pair mentors with mentees.

Tyson told the board the pilot enrolled 11 regular‑education students chosen because many learning‑support students already have built‑in supports during the enrichment period. After the first term, three students passed all four classes, five passed three of four, and the remaining three passed two of four. Tyson said those gains compared favorably with the students’ starting points; students who raised a class to passing earned an ice‑cream party and the JROTC mentors received certificates.

Board members asked how long the pilot had run and whether the district had supports for upperclassmen. Tyson said Freshman Seminar began this fall and that the district also is expanding credit‑recovery options and planned targeted interventions for upperclassmen who are credit‑shy. She said the district ran brief “mini‑reboot” sessions before Thanksgiving and again in December to re‑engage students whose grades declined after the first session.

Tyson said an important element was parent outreach: staff contacted every parent of students pulled into the program to explain the supports. She also described qualitative benefits — students reporting that the program helped them feel “known” and accountable — and said the district will re‑pull grades after the semester to identify the next cohort.

Tyson described the program’s rationale in research terms: ninth grade is a critical year for on‑track status, and being on track at the end of ninth grade is a stronger predictor of four‑year graduation than other measured variables. Board members praised the pilot and asked for regular progress reports.

The presentation concluded with Tyson saying the district will continue Freshman Seminar in the coming semester, continue to expand peer mentors, and monitor outcomes as part of a broader strategy that includes credit recovery and other post‑secondary supports.