San Benito High School staff will fully deploy an Academic Focus Time model for the 2019-20 school year in an ongoing effort to provide additional support for all of its students in an equitable manner, according to a recent SBHS district report.
“The issue was that we could state with certainty that a small percentage of our student population was participating in additional support provided by teachers outside of classroom time,” principal Adrian Ramirez said.
Ramirez was referring to optional tutoring sessions that were used prior to the 2018-19 school year.
“We also know that a significant percentage of our student population has to navigate through barriers—out of their control—that prevent or discourage them from taking advantage of these opportunities outside of the bell schedule,” Ramirez added.
San Benito High School staff began using the Academic Focus Time (AFT) model in fall 2018 and continued it through the spring semester.
“The AFT system allows us to mitigate these barriers to growth by providing a structured system during the school day that provides all students access to additional support in the form of intervention, enrichment and study halls,” Ramirez said.
AFT’s, as the district is calling them, are held every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday between the first period of the day and break.
That time on Mondays was used as a homeroom period, providing an organizational starting point that offered students the time to verify and select their AFT session for the week. Homeroom discussions include emergency drills, core values, schoolwide expectations, student surveys and Associated Study Body voting.
“Homeroom also allows us to provide all students with the opportunity to have a positive connection with another adult on campus,” as the sessions are hosted by teachers, Ramirez said.
