After spending more than a year studying and working on their homework, administrators with Dowagiac Union Schools are nearly ready for their big test later this year.

Deputy Superintendent Dawn Conner gave an update to the members of the Union Schools Board of Education and the public on the district’s plans to transition its middle and high school students over to a seven-period day during the board’s regular meeting Monday night. Although many of the details of the transition are not yet finalized, Conner delivered an “appetizer” of the direction the district’s sixth through 12th grade curriculum is moving that evening, a teaser before the “main course” is unveiled later this year.

Conner has worked with Union High Principal Kelly Millin, Middle School Principal Matthew Severin and many district teachers over the past year and four months to develop plans to overhaul instruction at the high and middle schools, Conner said during Monday’s meeting. The changes are designed to ensure that students are properly prepared for life after high school, be they moving on to college, attending vocational school or hitting the job market following graduation.

“We want to give opportunities for all our students, no matter who they are or where their career goals are,” Conner said. “It doesn’t matter if they are going to college, entering the world of work or entering post-secondary training after high school, we want everyone who comes to school in Dowagiac to have opportunities.”

The centerpiece of this change is a transition to seven-period days.

While the length of the school day will not change, the instruction time for individual classes will be cut down to allow an extra period under the new system. The move will allow students to take added elective courses while still fulfilling the strict graduation requirements established through the Michigan Merit Curriculum in 2010.

Conner and other administrators are developing a slate of new elective courses students can take when the new schedule is implemented. These optional courses are designed to give kids a focus on possible careers after graduation, Conner said.

“We want to make sure our kids have an idea of what they want to do,” she said. “It does not have to be set in stone, but we want them to have an idea of what kind of things you can be when you grow up.”

The district is also looking to enhance its academic offerings through expanded partnerships with businesses and other institutions, greater emphasis on project-based learning and greater focus on STEM subjects, Conner said.

“We really will become a destination district with all the things we can offer our students,” Conner said. “We have the Van Buren Technology Center, which has a massive amount of programming. We have career academies through the ISD. Now we are adding to that some very career-based electives. We also have dual-enrollment. We have a lot of options for kids here, and we want to make sure parents understand their options.”