Daniela Coe-McNamara
Staff Writer
In the first few weeks of school, students in Pre-Calculus and Algebra 2 classes were forced to change their schedules due to an overcrowding of 5th period classes and lack of students in 5th period Pre-Calculus.
The 2014-2015 school year began with Pre-Calculus classes averaging a size of about 29 kids in each class, with 5 sections of the subject being taught throughout the day. With the schedule changes and class switching, one of the 5th period Pre-Calculus classes, taught by Mr. Robertson, decreased to about half the size of the previously 40-student period.
“This sort of thing happens at least once a year and will continue to happen as the councilors try to balance the number of students in all classes. The teachers and students always adapt well to these type of changes. ” Mr. Robertson said.
Vice Principal Ian Drummond, who is responsible for determining the master schedule, recognized the issue with the Pre-Calculus class size in 5th period, as well as the oversized class of Algebra 2 students. Drummond proceeded to speak with many of the math teachers at Costa, including Mr. Robertson, about the issue with math class sizes.
“I have to take into consideration the teacher’s schedules, so I discussed the best plan of action with them,” Drummond said. “My job is to make the best possible master schedule for everyone at Costa, including teachers and staff.”
Drummond and the math teachers decided to switch Gesualdi’s 5th period Pre-Calculus class to Robertson and add an Algebra 2 class to 5th period to alleviate the oversized classes earlier in the day. Gesualdi volunteered to teach the added Algebra 2 class to avoid having one of her colleagues teach 3 subjects.
“This sort of thing happens at least once a year and will continue to happen as the councilors try to balance the number of students in all classes,” Roberson said. “The teachers and students always adapt well to these type of changes.”
Robertson and Gesualdi explained the situation to their students, rather than having administration send out slips to every student in each class. Drummond then personally escorted the students to their new teachers. Although most students schedules did not change due to the switch, it presented issues regarding the different content of the classes.
“Although the switch was easy, when it occurred, many students were behind in our new classes, giving us a huge workload for the first couple days as we tried to catch up,” Declan Wright, a junior who was switched from Ms. Gesualdi’s class to Mr. Robertson’s, said. “But, the switch was smooth and I understand that the school had to make this change.”
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