Some major changes are on the horizon for the way that Dowagiac middle and high school educators teach students.

Deputy Superintendent Dawn Connor informed the Dowagiac Union Schools Board of Education Monday that the district is pursuing plans to offer seven-period school days to sixth through 12th grade students beginning in the 2017-18 school year next September. Throughout the next year, Connor will be working with Dowagiac Middle School Principal Matt Severin and Dowagiac Union High School Principal
Kelly Millin to develop new schedules as well as with teachers to develop new courses to take advantage of the additional instruction period.

According to Connor, the district has been considering adding an additional period to the existing school day since 2014. The change comes as a way to offer students additional elective courses, as changes to the state-mandated course requirements made in 2010 have made it extremely difficult for students to take non-required academic courses during the previous six-period day, Connor said.

“Our main goal is to expand our offerings to students,” said Union Schools Superintendent Paul Hartsig, following Monday’s meeting. “We want to not only give them a chance to take classes and courses they’ll need to graduate, but also ones that will be of high interest to them.”

Other local districts, including Cassopolis and Edwardsburg, have adopted similar models, Hartsig said.

While the length of the school day for middle and high school students will remain the same, the length of each individual class will be contracted to allow time for the extra period, Hartsig said.

The administration will continue to update the board and the community throughout the upcoming year about the progress of the transition, Connor said.

“We think this is a real positive move for our students, staff and community,” Hartsig said. “With the limited options we currently have, it is also a necessary one.”