Freshmen Academy

Increasing Successes and Positive Aspects of High School

By Trece Jordan-Larsen

At the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year Slidell High embarked on a journey to build a successful freshman program to cut failures, dropouts, and discipline problems in order to increase the success of our students and create a more positive atmosphere at Slidell High School. The 9 th grade teachers researched why freshman failures often result in future dropouts. They learned that freshmen failures are not a result of lack of knowledge, but due to the overwhelming aspects of high school: new settings, bigger schools, the need for higher levels of organization, higher expectations, more freedom, and less hand holding. In order to accomplish their goal teachers had to look at their students and acknowledge the times, cultures, and family dynamics have changed and with it our students’ needs have changed. One of the key requirements identified early was to make each freshman group a second family where the students feel safe and supported. By making the academy groups like a second family, the students feel more comfortable and make smoother adjustments to their new settings and responsibilities.

During the 2007-2008 school year the family aspect of the Freshman Academy was accomplished by creating a family atmosphere by dividing teachers into teams. Each team taught the same group of students and met weekly to collaborate on the students’ strengths and weaknesses, and to develop ideas to encourage growth. The weekly collaboration turned out to be one of the strongest parts of the program because the teachers were able to discuss positive aspects of their classrooms and students. If a student was having difficulty in one subject, but excelled in another, the teachers discussed what learning techniques worked for the student and which did not. This communication helped teachers find new ways to help students learn. The teams helped students get to know each other, facilitated teachers learning more about their students, and opened up lines of communication on all sides. Overall, the outcome was positive because each group grew together with the end result being lowering failure rates and the development of strong bonds and skills.

In addition to creating a family atmosphere, the Freshman Academy also addressed organization skills, study skills, and positive reinforcement. At the beginning of the year, each student was given a planner. Each of the core classes had an enlarged version of the planner hanging in classrooms where teachers wrote daily assignments for students to copy. Students were given a weekly grade for keeping their planners up to date. To facilitate organizational skills, a binder system was implemented to hold all core class material. This enabled students to keep all of their work together. Overall it did keep all of the student’s work in one area versus scattered or misplaced. Teachers held study sessions to increase study skills and provide students an opportunity to complete work or improve on work. The Freshman Academy teachers also thought it was important to recognize students who were showing improvement, consistency, and positive attitudes. The students were rewarded through individual recognition conferences with core teachers, and given certificates, free homework passes, a bulletin board display of success, Slidell High t-shirts, and a field trip to the New Orleans Aquarium and IMAX. These positive reinforcement techniques showed great success within each group.

The Slidell High faculty is proud of the accomplishments of the Freshman Academy and look forward to improving the program for the 2008-2009 school year. Some of the improvements will be placing freshman classrooms in close proximity to each other, lunch remediation time instead of Saturday remediation, improved organization skills, more technology, and increased collaboration and involvement between parents, teachers, students, guidance counselors, and administration.

Last Updated: 11/19/2008
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