SEMINOLE — Some snuck glances at their cell phones, others peered down at their watches. They just knew second period was coming to an end.
4 Months Ago
4 Months Ago
8 Months Ago
At 8:43 a.m., two minutes before their blended English and world history block officially ended, 40 or so Seminole High sophomores poured into the hallway, bound for their next class.
There was no monotone bell blaring from above — the familiar noise that, until this year, had dictated every school day throughout their educational careers.
"It wasn’t hard to adjust to," said Helena Schuelke, 16. "It just makes us feel like we have more freedom."
Seminole High has turned off its bells to signal class changes, a first for Pinellas County and part of a larger effort to introduce the whole student body to elements of the school’s "personalized learning" magnet, iHawk Academy. Students in the magnet are urged to take ownership of their learning, and the absence of bells creates a college-like atmosphere that puts more responsibility on them to be on time and manage their schedules.
"It’s changed the tenor of the school because kids like being treated like adults," said principal Tom Brittain. "How many colleges ring a bell?"
Last May, the bells were turned off for a week during Florida Standards Assessments testing. Brittain noticed a calming effect throughout the school and decided to try it out for the 2016-17 school year.
Students were accustomed to having about six minutes between classes, with a warning bell one minute before class would start. Anyone who arrived to class late would be sent to a "tardy table." A line would form, and by the time students received a pass to go to class and traverse the school district’s second-largest high school, a student would miss about a third of class time.
So Seminole made adjustments: no more "tardy table." The onus would be on students to get to class on time. And teachers would no longer sweat a student being late by a few minutes.
"I thought there was going to be a lot more people being late to class," said senior Michaela Reynolds, 18. "But once it was happening I realized I liked how much I didn’t have to hear the bells."
Students who are flagged by teachers for being repeatedly late to class are put on "ground notice," where they are escorted around campus — even to the bathroom — by school staff. The school has been trying to improve its daily attendance rate, which Brittain says hovers around 92 percent.
Teachers, some of who were skeptical at first, began noticing that some students got to class earlier instead of chatting in the hallway before the warning bell.
Before, "they would all just wait in the hall like Pavlov’s dog," said iHawk Academy director Carrie Short. This year, she said, "they have a level of respect and trust they didn’t have previously."
Senior Ty Casey, 18, who drives to school, said he would struggle to make it on time to his first period.
With the new system, he said, "you’re not stressing about getting there on time."
Brittain, who has led the school for four years, said the unconventional schedule is part of "de-institutionalizing the institution." He believes in individuality, tries not to be a stickler for dress code violations and deals with discipline issues case-by-case.
"I’m not a punishment kind of guy," he said. "I want to change behavior."
Students say they have noticed that the hallways are less noisy and crowded, and find themselves less distracted in class.
"I got used to it pretty quickly; the bells are annoying," said sophomore Brianna Smith, 15. "It gives me time to settle down, ask my teachers what we’re doing."
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8643. Follow @Colleen_Wright.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
