Committee reviews two middle‑school scheduling models to boost core instruction and streamline electives

District administrators and middle‑school principals presented two candidate schedules for Waukesha middle schools and described plans to refine elective offerings and establish pathways so students receive more consistent core instruction and exposure to electives.

Presenters included Dee Garcia, director of middle‑level teaching and learning, principals Rob Bennett (Lefebvre/Lehi Paul), Kent Kleinowski (Horning), and Laura Genaro (Butler). They said the goals are to ensure a guaranteed and viable curriculum in math and literacy, increase time for targeted support and enrichment, and make elective offerings more coherent so students can explore a set of related courses rather than many very small, hard‑to‑staff classes.

The district’s current schedule provides daily literacy blocks of about 86 minutes in grades 6–8 and 43‑minute periods for science and social studies; math minutes vary, with grades 6–7 receiving 86 minutes and grade 8 receiving 43 minutes. Staff said the district’s Desmos math curriculum requires 45–60 minutes for instruction with fidelity, and the existing discrepancy in grade‑level math minutes creates scheduling and instructional challenges.

Schedule A (modified block): an eight‑period model with two 86‑minute blocks (math and literacy) and four 43‑minute periods, two of which would be electives. This model would require a 7:20 a.m. start (10 minutes earlier than current) to accommodate a daily 30‑minute homeroom/advisory. Proponents said the longer blocks would deepen instruction and allow strategic grouping during advisory so "our strongest educators" can work with students most in need.

Schedule B (six‑period day): a balanced day starting at the current 7:30 a.m. time with six 57‑minute periods covering the four core subjects and two elective periods. This model preserves the existing start time while lengthening most class periods and expanding advisory time by roughly 13 minutes. Presenters said both schedules meet the committee’s criteria for adequate core instructional time and daily supports, and both could be implemented with an A/B day approach for electives to improve staffing alignment with the high school.

On electives, staff documented that the district currently offers many elective course formats (year‑long daily, year‑long every‑other‑day, semester daily, quarter daily) and that the variety complicates scheduling and staffing. Leaders proposed a sixth‑grade “wheel” that exposes every student to core elective areas (arts, music, tech ed, world language, etc.), then semester‑ or year‑long elective modules in grades 7 and 8 to create clearer pathways and improve course fill rates.

Committee members asked about start times, lunch periods, impacts on students and families, and how advisory time would be used. Presenters said advisory (currently ~20 minutes) would be expanded to 30 minutes and used for career/college planning, social‑emotional learning and AVID‑style executive‑function instruction; staff said the district is preparing a planned advisory calendar. Trustee concerns focused on an earlier start time and ensuring the advisory minutes are high quality and used every day.

Next steps: the middle‑school scheduling team will seek staff feedback May 19, solicit parent and community input at scheduled middle‑school events later in the month, refine elective pathway proposals, and return to the committee with recommendations. Staff emphasized that any change would be planned for 2026‑27 implementation at the earliest to allow time for communication, staffing adjustments and pilot work.

No formal action was taken; the committee asked staff to continue refining both schedule options and to present updated proposals after teacher and parent input.