Looking at the new schedules for this year, students were probably surprised to see that they had a “W4” class and a corresponding teacher’s name in place of Flex. Starting September 19 Atom Time will be instated at AHS and students will remain in their W4 for the full block until that date.

W4 is the homeroom for students, and it begins at 8:43 and ends at 9:23, it will last for 25 minutes. Home rooms are assigned to students alphabetically and by grade level. Those 25 minutes will serve as a debriefing period for students and teachers, this is where paperwork, announcements or administrative work will be administered.

After the first two weeks of school, Atom Time will be instated and depending on their classification students will have designated places to go. Atom time begins at 9:30 and ends at 10:21 and will last for 47 minutes, and students will no longer have to stay in their homerooms. Atom Time is separated by cycles.

“A cycle is going between an interim and a quarter, and then the quarter and interim, and interim and quarter. So there are going to be seven cycles,” math teacher and Atom Time coordinator Brianne Trotochaud said.

The student body will be separated into three distinct groups: Atoms in Good Standing (students whose grades are Cs and above with no unexcused absences, excessive tardies or have had no disciplinary action taken against them), Atoms not in Good Standing (students with Cs or higher, but who have unexcused tardies and absences, disciplinary action taken against them) and Directed Students (students with Ds or Fs in any class, SOL remediation).

Per cycle, students have a limit of four unexcused tardies and two absences to be determined as an Atom not in Good Standing.

Atoms in Good Standing will be given the choice of signing up for computer labs, the sign up will take place in the administrative office in the Social Studies hallway. Those students will also be given the choice of going to the Cafeteria to hang out with their friends, go to the Open Gym or go to any teacher of their choice if they need assistance.

“First priority would be people who need academic assistance so first we decide  who the directed students are and those are students who have Ds or Fs or students who need to do SOL remediation ” Trotochaud said.

Teachers can also request a student to be direct, “So if there is an ESOL student who needs extra support even if they have grades above a C they can be directed in that way. It all depends on what the student’s individual needs are,“ Trotochaud said.

As opposed to Flex where students are required to attend certain classes and are not given the choice to do what they want, Atom Time appeals to students with different needs.

“It’s beneficial for several reasons, one is that it gives students who are in higher academics that needs to be getting things together or working in groups an opportunity to choose to do that during the school day,” Trotochaud said.

Clubs will also be able to meet during Atom Time. The advisor of the club will have access to a calender for each cycle where they can book meetings. The calender will be available to Students who are Atoms in Good Standing to check for any upcoming meetings.

While this program is fairly new, the committee in charge has done extensive research by contacting various other schools with a similar programs and have received feedback from administrators and teachers at AHS as well. The program has been thoroughly planned and thought out so that the school can avoid any problems that may arise by getting pointers from other schools that have had issues.

    Successfully implementing and carrying out this program requires quite a lot of work on both parts of the teachers and students.

“I think my only hesitation would be that we really need our students to do what they’re supposed to do be doing and I’m not really nervous about that because I think our kids are great and I think that when they realize that they have an opportunity to make a good decision to help themselves they will. But  in order for this program to work they would need to do that,” Trotochaud said.

With so many changes occurring, the school hopes that students and teachers will both benefit from the new program.

“A cycle is going between an interim and a quarter, and then the quarter and interim, and interim and quarter. So there are going to be seven cycles,” math teacher and Atom Time coordinator Brianne Trotochaud said.

Within the first two weeks of school, students will find out what standing they are in. The student body will be separated into three distinct groups: Atoms in Good Standing (students whose grades are Cs and above with no unexcused absences, excessive tardies or have had no disciplinary action taken against them), Atoms not in Good Standing (students with Cs or higher, but who have unexcused tardies and absences, disciplinary action taken against them) and Directed Students (students with Ds or Fs in any class, SOL remediation).

Per cycle, students have a limit of four unexcused tardies and two absences to be determined as an Atom not in Good Standing.

Atoms in Good Standing will be given the choice of signing up for computer labs, the sign up will take place in the administrative office in the Social Studies hallway. Those students will also be given the choice of going to the Cafeteria to hang out with their friends, go to the Open Gym or go to any teacher of their choice if they need assistance.

“First priority would be people who need academic assistance so first we decide  who the directed students are and those are students who have Ds or Fs or students who need to do SOL remediation ” Trotochaud said.

Teachers can also request a student to be direct, “So if there is an ESOL student who needs extra support even if they have grades above a C they can be directed in that way. It all depends on what the student’s individual needs are,“ Trotochaud said.

As opposed to Flex where students are required to attend certain classes and are not given the choice to do what they want, Atom Time appeals to students with different needs.

“It’s beneficial for several reasons, one is that it gives students who are in higher academics that needs to be getting things together or working in groups an opportunity to choose to do that during the school day,” Trotochaud said.

Clubs will also be able to meet during Atom Time. The advisor of the club will have access to a calender for each cycle where they can book meetings. The calender will be available to Students who are Atoms in Good Standing to check for any upcoming meetings.

While this program is fairly new, the committee in charge has done extensive research by contacting various other schools with a similar programs and have received feedback from administrators and teachers at AHS as well. The program has been thoroughly planned and thought out so that the school can avoid any problems that may arise by getting pointers from other schools that have had issues.

    Successfully implementing and carrying out this program requires quite a lot of work on both parts of the teachers and students.

“I think my only hesitation would be that we really need our students to do what they’re supposed to do be doing and I’m not really nervous about that because I think our kids are great and I think that when they realize that they have an opportunity to make a good decision to help themselves they will. But  in order for this program to work they would need to do that,” Trotochaud said.

With so many changes occurring, the school hopes that students and teachers will both benefit from the new program.