By Mary Anne Schindler / L’Observateur / February 27, 1999

DEAR EDITOR: I am an active mother in the St. Charles School System. I have twochildren at Destrehan High School and one that graduated from there in 1997. We moved to St. Charles Parish in 1980 because we felt it had thebest public school system in the state. I feel parents should carefullyresearch the schools so they are aware of what opportunities their children will and will not have at Destrehan, as well as other schools.

Since Destrehan High School instituted the 4×4 schedule three and a half years ago, and changes the course requirements yearly, students need to make important decisions that they did not have to make in the past. To bea Destrehan band student for four years, a student has to take eight credits or one-fourth of his high school courses as band. If a studentwants to graduate with a Destrehan Academics Honors Diploma, they can’t be in the band, chorus, or JROTC for the four years of their high school because the diploma only allows a student to take one to two elective courses.

My oldest son’s ACT test scores in math dropped six points from the fall of his junior year (when he was taking a math class) to the June after his junior year (when he had been out of a math class for six months). Mysecond son went a full year without having a math class because he finished his first math class in December 1997 and did not begin his second math class until January 1999. According to how the counselor hashis curriculum scheduled, my second son will have two years between Spanish I and Spanish II.

I don’t understand how the 4×4 schedule has been beneficial to our students when the classes have increased in size, which lowers learning, and there is one to two years between classes, which lowers learning.

Many teachers have adjusted and can cover the same amount of material that teachers do when they teach the course for the entire year but other teachers have just decreased the amount of material covered in the course. The stress level on students in demanding classes such as HonorsEnglish and Honors History has increased. The amount of early releasestudents seems to have increase with the 4×4 schedule.

I am not sure what is wrong with students experiencing their high school education. Students today don’t even know what it means to have schoolspirit or how to support other groups in the school. You can’t have a bandconcert for the entire school or have them see the JROTC Pass and Review because they would have to miss too much class. Field trips that canbroaden the education are almost eliminated. Parents and students need toplease do your research before you start high school. The better privatehigh schools in the city will not let you transfer in as a sophomore, so you need to research up front.

Mary Anne Schindler

Destrehan

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