Last year, if a student was uncooperative in class, the student would usually be sent to the principal’s office where they would sit for a few hours. But rather than being looked upon as a punishment, the students might have seen it as an opportunity to miss class, Cascio said.
“The teachers were so frustrated that they couldn’t control the classes, they had some leaving the system,” Cascio said.“They threw in the towel.”
One of the first changes that Shaw implemented was to split lunchtime into two periods. The first lunch period was dedicated for sixth and seventh graders, while the eighth grades had a lunch period to themselves.
“Just having a fewer number of students to be supervised has made a difference,” Shaw said.
Now, whenever a student is in trouble for uncooperative behavior, they are called to the office for an hour of suspension with a teacher or supervisor. During this time, the student is presented a list of words for which they must look up definitions. The goal is to create a boring and tedious suspension period.
If the student commits a serious infraction, they miss the entire day and are isolated from all their classmates.
“They don’t get to socialize, they don’t get to go out for lunch and nutrition,” Shaw said. “Most of them don’t view it as fun.”
The isolation factor seems to have gotten through to the students, said Cascio, who believes the key to discipline in the middle school level — where many of the students are entering their teenage years — is to take away time to socialize.
Cascio said he reached a tipping point last year with the lack of discipline when his son was allegedly assaulted by some other students. After the incident, Cascio immediately sent a letter to administrators expressing his concerns over what he perceived to be anarchy at the school.
“My son lost his sixth grade,” he said. “But in seventh grade, he’s flourishing.
“All the kids are flourishing.”
The issue that seemed most troubling to Sheila Forsander, the president of the Parent- Teacher-Student Association, was bullying.
Forsander sang Shaw’s praises at the school board meeting more than two weeks ago, saying that discipline issues have gone down while teacher morale has gone up.
“We’re truly pleased with her,” Forsander said on Thursday. “The school is academically better.”
Newly elected school board member and JAMS parent Kelly McMahon Pye said John Adams was always a great school. There was-n’t anything really wrong with the school, it’s just that the school has drastically improved this year.
“My son had a wonderful year last year,” she said. “And he’s having a great year this year.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 2, 2007. Read the original PDF.