A “Homeroom Think Tank” was formed by Naperville Central Administration with the goal of redesigning homeroom.
Homeroom, implemented in second semester of the 2021-22 school year, is a non-academic class period that meets periodically during SOAR periods.
“The purpose is to provide a dedicated space for students to build relationships within the NCHS community and to support continued growth of academic and social-emotional skills through school-wide learning,” Principal Jackie Thornton said.
SOAR periods were also implemented at the same time, and are meant to also serve as targeted support periods where students can choose classes with teachers who they need help from. The periods are on a bi-weekly basis, every Tuesday and Thursday for 45 minutes.
“This is our seventh semester of homeroom, and there are aspects of homeroom that don’t match our original design or original purpose statement,” Thornton said.
The group is composed of 20 staff members, as well as Thornton, and the group first met in early February.
“We have had a couple of different agenda items and activities to do as a team, talking about what our goals are in redesigning homeroom, what the future of that space and student schedule looks like, and how to maximize that time to give students the best supports,” said Lauren Berryhill, a member of the group and a choir teacher.
All certified staff lead a homeroom class, accompanied by one or two other teachers. In its current form, students have the same homeroom classmates and teachers for all four years.
In addition, homeroom attendance has played a role in the redesign.
“On Feb. 18, which was the last day of data [that I have], 225 students were absent from homeroom,” Thornton said.
Currently, homeroom periods provide opportunities to teach school counseling curriculum, conduct mandatory drills such as fire or severe weather drills, and otherwise complete non-academic work in an environment that isn’t an academic class. Previously, this work was completed in a different school day schedule with an extended second period.
One of the conclusions the group has made is that faculty would like to have a consistent schedule with a redesigned homeroom, according to Thornton.
The group has also taken into account how other neighboring schools and districts use homeroom and advisory periods.
“We are hoping that students attend them more, because we’re doing important things there,” Berryhill said.
The group’s work also coincides with the current proposal in front of the Board of Education to redesign the school day, where the high school level would shift to a modified block schedule. Under the proposal, the school week would shift to include four SOAR periods.
“Now, whether we have a new school day or not we’re not really changing the logistics of our schedule,” Berryhill said. “It’s more so just homeroom as a whole and re-envisioning what the contents of that time in our schedule looks like, and how we can use that best to support students.”
Some of the changes they have looked into include shifting homeroom to take the shape of an advisory period, as well as making it more engaging.
“I think my hope in general, is that everyone has a positive attitude going into a change, staff and students included, and just embrace that there’s always learning curves to change, and that’s not bad.” Berryhill said.
