You may be aware of re-structuring, scheduling and grading scale changes at EMS beginning in the 2016-17 year. We’d like to take this opportunity to present what these changes are and how they will benefit EMS. To create a healthy bottom-line, while providing competitive opportunities for students, our middle and high schools are moving to an eight period day beginning next fall. This change will offer students schedule flexibility, additional course choices, and better opportunities to manage the stressful balance of academics and co-curriculars, while also allowing the school to reduce its expense budget with fewer full-time equivalents on staff.
This change also allows high school students to earn 32 credits versus 28 under the old structure. An eight period days gives flexibility for students to preserve part of their day for independent study projects and or study halls during extra busy seasons, thereby easing the stress for students who play sports, sing in choir, act in drama, and select heavier academic loads. Additionally, we hope students will broaden their horizons by taking more electives of interest in their expanded day. Although we prioritize face-to-face learning experiences with our teachers, students choosing online course options will gain additional support from teacher coaches.
The well-known Mennonite cookbook “More with Less” sums up our planning efforts for next year … more student opportunities at a slightly less cost to the school. A more financially secure future will benefit all of us in the long run. These changes will be felt most by our supportive employees, who through faculty committee, worked with administration on creating this new model. EMS teachers will be working extra hard to provide this new schedule, teaching six of eight periods; with one of these assignments being more supervisory in nature to preserve a reasonable instructional load.
Additionally this spring, faculty also supported adjusting the EMS grading scale to 10-points per letter grade so an “A” will cover the range of 90% – 100%, a “B” 80 – 89% and so forth. In addition to being easier to remember and communicate, teachers will have more latitude in developing thought-provoking questions and assignments with less fear of challenge dropping a student’s grade. This change was processed as a task force which included parent, student and faculty input.
We hope this summary provides insight into the changes taking place, and as always, we welcome your feedback as well as your prayerful support as we navigate next year and beyond.
In the August issue of Today we will spotlight other exciting changes we hope to accomplish. Our master plan calls for one K-12 campus with plans underway for elementary school permanency, site and traffic flow improvements, and an auxiliary gym.
But as for now, our current year’s budget needs your help. Going into the year we knew heavy endowment subsidy was required. We are blessed to have this option; however, such actions cannot be sustained. Between now and June 30, we need your contribution help equal to $642/student for a total of $242,617 . . . just to meet our heavily subsidized budget. Any assistance you can provide preserves our savings for the K-12 campus plan project.
As you consider giving to our year-end, think of EMS students past, present, and in the future. All share the common thread of com- munity support and the stewardship of doing more with less to benefit others. Thank you for considering a gift of student sponsorship in honor of those students special to you.
May God bless you for being part of EMS’ ministry today and tomorrow!
