San Benito High School program offers alternative to traditional
five-day weeks
In a small corner of the San Benito High School library,
students enrolled in Long-Term Independent Study come in throughout
Thursday morning to check in with their teachers for a weekly
meeting to turn in their assignments. The students get one-on-one
attention for 45 minutes with their core teacher, who helps them
with the majority of their subjects.
San Benito High School program offers alternative to traditional five-day weeks
In a small corner of the San Benito High School library, students enrolled in Long-Term Independent Study come in throughout Thursday morning to check in with their teachers for a weekly meeting to turn in their assignments. The students get one-on-one attention for 45 minutes with their core teacher, who helps them with the majority of their subjects.
This year, around 40 students are enrolled in the program, though the maximum enrollment is 68. The program is an alternative to taking the traditional classes that require students to be on campus five days a week and the reasons for using it are varied. For one girl, it helped her stay in school through a pregnancy and while her daughter is an infant at home. For others, it’s a chance to focus on a sport such as golf, leaving their mornings free to go to tournaments or practice on courses around the Central Coast region. Some of the students and families come from a home-school background and want a smaller setting for their kids.
Kelsey Firstbrook, a junior who is now enrolled in traditional classes, spent her first two years at San Benito High School in the program.
“There are 3,000 students and it’s a big campus,” Firstbrook said. “I wanted some more one-on-one interaction so this was the best option.”
Firstbrook had been home-schooled through Ocean Grove Charter School before high school. She said her family knew about the program because she had older friends who were enrolled in it.
“They had everything I wanted to take and do,” she said. “Everyone was helpful.”
For her junior year she decided to join the main campus so that she could take advanced classes and meet the language requirement for applying to college.
“I never felt like I was missing anything,” she said. “I have become comfortable – I know more people on campus.”
Conner Menez and Emma Thompson, both juniors, met with teachers on a Thursday afternoon before taking tests for one of their subjects at a group table.
“I kind of like to be at home,” Thompson said. “It’s more flexible. I get to do a lot more things. If there is somewhere I want to go with my family, I can do that because it’s more flexible.”
The two said they don’t feel as though they are missing out on anything. Menez said that since he plays on the baseball team, he interacts with other students outside the LTIS program.
“In a way I am missing an experience,” Thompson said. “But I don’t find that experience that necessary.”
She said the classes can be a challenge.
“The thing that is challenging is that you have to teach yourself,” she said. “You don’t have a teacher talking to you every day.”
Alyssa Campa, a senior, said that the program does require the students to manage their time well on their own. Campa joined the program two months into her junior year when she found out she was pregnant.
“I was super, super sick,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to (finish school.) I thought it would be way harder than it actually is.”
Campa knew about the program because an older sibling had enrolled in it.
“I felt like it was better because it’s just you and your teacher,” Campa said, “And they pay attention to you. It works around my time. I get everything done when I need it done instead of having to go to school everyday.”
Campa does her class assignments on her own, coming in for a 45-minute meeting with teacher Carla Loomis once a week to turn in her work and talk about her assignments. Her daughter is 4 months old and the biggest obstacle to getting her work done right now is that the baby is teething.
She has her sights set on college next year, with plans to attend Gavilan College. She wants to have a career in the medical field or as a veterinarian.
The only thing she misses about being on the main campus is “my friends, being around in class. but now I get all my work done and I have way better grades. I’m not so distracted.”
The teachers for the program include Carla Loomis, who teaches seniors; Edie Achterman, who teaches freshman and juniors; and Beri Smith, who teaches sophomores and juniors. This year SBHS math teacher Tracey Holmes is working with LTIS students enrolled in geometry and algebra II.
The program started in 2003 and it used to serve 140 students, but due to cuts, the director and some teachers were eliminated, lowering the capacity of the program.
“The way our classes work is that it is pretty much aligned with the regular classes,” Loomis said. “Occasionally, we get a student that starts out on independent study and after six to eight weeks, they don’t like it.”
The program is designed so that students can sign up for LTIS or return to the traditional campus at any point in the semester and they should be in roughly the same place in their classes.
Loomis said that the students do have to meet some criteria when they meet with a counselor to be recommended for the program. She said for underclassmen, their STAR testing scores have to be at the basic level or above. Sophomore or older students have to have passed the CAHSEE.
“A student’s reading level has to be good because they are doing so much on their own,” Loomis said.
Loomis said that if the student does not complete assignments for three weeks, they are recommended to be dropped from the program.
“Most feel it is a privilege and they really do get their work done…” she said. “For some kids, they get lost in a classroom of 40 students. I meet with every kid for at least 45 minutes every week, if not more. I really get to know them.”
Achterman said that she, too, gets to know her students well. She talked about one freshman student who is an English language learner. On a prewriting assignment for an essay, the girl wrote about how her father lost his job and her mother has to work the night shift at the cannery. During the day, she has to help out with family chores at home so Achterman said sometimes she will stay in the lobby of the LTIS area to get some of her work done.
“So many people are struggling to provide for their families,” Achterman said. “This allows her to not just keep up in school, but to excel.”
Achterman said that all her students have different stories. One of her other students is in LTIS because he is a passionate golfer.
“He made varsity and he is able to get all the practice time in,” she said. “I love the intimacy of knowing all their stories. When I was a classroom teacher … you can’t connect with all of them. I love being able to connect.”
Achterman also likes the challenge of teaching so many different subjects. Her office is full of books such as English to social studies texts.
“It’s really exciting because it is so much different content and so many different kids,” she said.
While the program offers limited elective courses, Loomis said that the students in LTIS have the option of taking a zero period class or they can enroll in ROP classes. They can also take classes at Gavilan College, though they have to pay the class fees there.
“They are considered a full-time student so they can go to the prom,” Loomis said. “They can do every extracurricular activity – they can play sports … They go through the regular ceremony and get the same diploma. Some of our classes are more rigorous.”
The students estimate that they do about 30 hours of class work on their own. Achterman said that to make the program work, students really have to have time management skills.
“I really believe in this alternative,” she said. “Not every student meets the cookie-cutter vision of what a high school student should be.”
Loomis reiterated the thought.
“Every single kid has his own story and they are all different,” she said. “It can still work for all of them.”
Some spaces are still available in the Long Term Independent Study program at San Benito High School. For more information, students or families can call 637-5831, ext. 179.
