Steinmetz puts school on shifts

Desperate to ease crowding and hoping to keep potential dropouts on track, officials at Steinmetz High School divided students into two shifts this week, an approach that more schools may adopt in the future.

One group of students starts in the morning as usual. The second batch, about 450 students who are struggling academically or can’t seem to make it to class in the morning, begin with lunch at 2 p.m. Their classes start half an hour later and end at 6.

School officials described the second-shift students as on the verge of dropping out. The new schedule, they argue, not only relieves crowding but gives this group needed attention.

“I can say without fear of contradiction these students would be … 100 percent dropouts,” said Constantine Kiamos, the principal at Steinmetz. “They know that they are not doing well. Most of them, to their credit, are saying: Here’s my chance.”

The program is not mandatory, Kiamos said, but it is highly recommended to students who have a 1.0 GPA or less, do not have the number of high school credits they should have for their grade and are failing 50 to 75 percent of their classes.

Students in the program will be able to earn only 2 1/2 credits per semester as opposed to five credits for regular-day students who pass their classes.

At first, about 50 parents came out strongly against the afternoon school, but many, after meeting with counselors or school officials, walked away satisfied with the program, according to Kiamos.

Parent Michelle Graham, however, is intent on getting her son back into the day program. She is afraid it will take him longer to graduate on the shorter schedule.

“When they pulled this, I was distraught,” Graham said. “My son’s education is very important to me.”

Faced with an overflow of students on the Northwest and Southwest Sides, as well as a budget squeeze that makes it difficult to build new schools, Chicago has experimented with a number of solutions.

Some children are bused to underutilized schools far from home–an unpopular idea with parents. Other schools have adopted a year-round calendar, with staggered vacations for different groups of students.

If the system being used at Steinmetz shows good results, it may be added at other crowded high schools, officials say. Possible candidates include Gage Park and Foreman.

Since 1998, Kelvyn Park High School has used three starting times in the morning and an optional evening program that begins at 4:30. Englewood High School also has a similar program, although the school is not overcrowded.

Officials from Kelvyn Park say the schedule has helped more of the school’s students graduate.

“What’s good about the program is that it’s designed to fit students’ needs rather than the students fitting the program’s design,” said Principal Sandra Fontanez-Phelan.

Steinmetz, one of the city’s five most overcrowded schools, has about 2,600 students although its capacity is 2,173. Almost 1,000 freshmen attempted to enroll in September.

Beginning next fall, about 400 incoming freshmen at Steinmetz may attend school at the nearby Bricktown Mall if the City Council approves a zoning variance, according to schools operations chief Tim Martin.

For the students who didn’t have to wake up and get ready for school until, say, noon, returning from winter break wasn’t such an ordeal.

Daniel Tores, a senior, said he likes having his mornings free.

“It’s less hours in school, more time to sleep in, plus I can get a job,” said Tores, who hopes to attend college in Florida to study computer animation. “This will give me more time to look into that.”

Teachers said they hope smaller classes will encourage struggling students to succeed.

“These are the kids who struggle to achieve, who were falling through the cracks,” said Rhoda Stacy, a social studies and English teacher. “Traditional school is not for everyone.”

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Stacy said her day now begins at 10:30 a.m. and concludes at 6. Teachers’ schedule changes are voluntary, she said.

Wilfredo Ortiz, chief officer of high school development, said the program is a realistic alternative for students who need more than four years to graduate.

After two days on the new schedule, sophomore Kathy Bien said she has already noticed an improvement in overburdened classrooms. “We had like 60 people in music class before. It was tough,” she said.

It’s quieter in the hallways, too, said Javier Galerza, a senior. “You can be chilling at your locker and you don’t see 50 rumbles in the halls anymore,” he said.