Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
New Camp Curtin plan aims to cut hallway transitions, add electives and ‘transition’ support for students
Summary
District administrators unveiled a five‑year plan to reorganize middle‑level education around Camp Curtin and Marshall Math Science Academy: create four program tracks, introduce 90‑minute math/ELA blocks to reduce transitions, add electives and after‑school activities, and establish a transition room and restorative practices. Board deferred final decisions about Roland/Marchall closures to June 30.
Mr. Ryan Jones, newly assigned to lead middle‑level programming, spent the board meeting presenting a comprehensive five‑year strategy for Camp Curtin that the administration says is designed to improve attendance, behavior and achievement.
Jones framed the proposal around four operational priorities: reduce transitions (he said the building previously spent “2½ hours in transition”), create programmatic identity through four tracks (STEM at Marshall; arts, business and general education with an intervention focus at Camp Curtin), and build operational systems and staffing to support instruction. His initial year‑one changes include a new master schedule with nine equal periods, 90‑minute literacy and math blocks (to reduce movement and enable corrective reading), three staggered lunches, and the introduction of eighth‑grade electives such as Spanish, communications and theater.
To address student behavior and more intensive needs, Jones proposed newly configured ‘transition’ rooms (one for special‑education supports and one for general education) to provide structured, time‑limited interventions (a model he described as up to 45 days, tied to a data‑driven intervention cycle). He emphasized restorative approaches, classroom resets, an updated discipline matrix and coordinated return plans for students in alternative placements.
Jones previewed an administrative and staffing model with shared leadership: a principal for the middle‑level program, an assistant principal of instruction, an assistant principal of operations and safety, three grade‑band leads, instructional coaches, a behavior specialist and special‑education supervision. He said the plan assumes staff transfers from Roland will be necessary to fill vacancies and that delays or changes in Roland’s status would complicate staffing assumptions.
Board members asked detailed questions about implementation risks — the group identified staff retention as the highest‑probability risk — and about parent engagement, logistics (cafeteria capacity, transportation for after‑school programs), and the treatment of students returning from alternative placements (administrators noted state legal constraints about how long students can be held in separate settings and emphasized collaborative transition plans with AED‑Y providers such as River Rock).
The board did not vote on a closure at the meeting; administration moved the formal roll call decisions for Marshall and Roland to the June 30 agenda to allow for required notices and additional planning. Administrators also agreed to provide monthly updates and teacher/staff feedback during implementation.
What’s next: If the board approves the staffing and operational plans, the district will begin work over the summer on master schedules, staffing placements, and parent outreach; monthly data reports to the board were requested to monitor progress and retention.
