The traditional school day is too restrictive, Principal Shaun Tomaszewski says.
“High school is still set up like a 1940s factory,” he said, referring to the time-based structure of the school day.
To help shift that, Baldwin next year will expand its open campus plan, an idea that expands on the Keystone Rewards study hall concept and the late arrival/early outs that seniors have been taking advantage of this year. The Keystone study halls allowed juniors and seniors to either enter school one period late or leave school one period early, as long as they had passed their Keystone exams.
The open campus plan, though, will allow juniors and seniors students to leave much earlier or arrive much later, depending on how many credits they have. It will not be linked to success on the Keystones, but rather successful completion of academic credits.
Juniors must schedule a minimum of six credits. But this could be fulfilled in a variety of ways under next year’s block schedule setup, in which there will be four block periods per day.
“A junior could fill their A day schedule with four classes and only have two classes on B days. They could come in super late, showing up for blocks three and four, or they could leave super early, after block two,” Tomaszewski said.
For seniors, there will be even more flexibility.
All students must complete 24 credits to graduate at the end of their senior year. But for seniors who have earned seven or eight credits in each of their first three years of high school, the open campus plan could give them the opportunity to have entire days with no classes.
“If a senior goes into their senior year with 20 credits, and they only need four credits to graduate, and they’re able to schedule their two English classes (during) fall semester on A days – guess what? They don’t have to come to school on B days,” Tomaszewski said.
All of this is dependent on the submission and approval of a permission form documenting a student’s request to arrive late or leave early. This allows the school to ensure that students have enough credits for graduation and that their families are all on the same page.
Noel Santini, the chair of the counseling department, said the open campus will offer many benefits for students.
“I’m excited about the opportunity. Having an open campus and flexible situation allows for creativity,” Santini said. “It is a step in a good direction for students.”
But Santini discourages students from impulsively taking off a lot of time during their senior year.
“If you have everything else done, you could technically come in and take (classes) for the first semester and not come in for the second, but why would you do that?” Santini said. “You want to be here – it’s your senior year.”
For students planning to attend college, taking a lot of time off in their senior year might not be the best idea, Santini said.
“What colleges are really looking at your senior year is (if) you are applying yourself in the same way that you have in freshman, sophomore, and junior year,” Santini said.
Open campus might be a little more complicated for Steel Center students. They earn elective credits for the Steel Center courses, but they must complete their core classes upon returning to school. Because of that, these students might need to be at school more than other juniors or seniors, and be less able to schedule free periods.
“It depends on what they can get done and how they can schedule it,” Santini said.
Seniors who opt for a greatly reduced class schedule would miss the opportunity to take electives they might enjoy. But Tomaszewski said many students currently wind up in study halls, and one of the goals of the open campus concept is to get students out of those study halls.
He said he believes the open campus won’t deter students who want to take electives from taking them.
“We have kids who graduate with over 30 credits because they want to,” Tomaszewski said. “But should we force a kid to do that?”
For sophomore Kiera Pierre, who plans on taking many AP classes, open campus may give her a chance to focus on her academics.
“I was thinking of taking more electives and less (AP) classes. But I feel like now I can focus more on taking my (AP) classes next year,” Pierre said.
Junior Allison Lease agreed, saying that she would rather spend the time working on her main classes.
“I want to have more time for myself and my activities,” she said. “I would rather focus on rigorous courses that boost my knowledge and GPA.”
Sophomore Allison Stewart, who attends Steel Center, agrees that an open campus will have positive effects.
“It’ll give more to students because it gives them more flexibility throughout their day,” Stewart said.
Junior Carter Smeal said that he predicts there will be fewer students taking electives next year, and he said that will alter the high school experience for his senior year.
“In the past, kids would take electives to fill their schedule and take classes they find interesting,” he said. “Now, many students may just leave blocks empty to leave campus. I think this will lead to students only taking the credits they need and nothing else, which I think will be bad for the school environment,” Smeal said.
Smeal said that although he sees how it could benefit others, he personally wouldn’t utilize the open campus.
“I do not think I would consider leaving school,” he said. “I think this would put an awkward break in my day and lead me to be less productive in what I do during the school day.”
Lease said that she sees a benefit to allowing more student freedom. However, she agreed that some could misuse the system.
“A potential issue I could see would be students taking one or two classes and then just staying home – causing a lack of productivity during the required school day,” she said.
In regards to security, having larger numbers of students entering and exiting Baldwin’s school building throughout the day should not create issues, the principal said.
Tomaszewski said that he has witnessed a similar open campus setup at Upper St. Clair, where students are allowed to enter and exit through a security entrance by checking in and out with their student IDs.
“I believe that (too often) we create structures and processes and rules for the high-risk misbehaving kids, instead of creating those structures and processes and rules for the 99 percent of kids who aren’t going to engage in those high-risk misbehaviors,” Tomaszewski said.
