PAWS Extension Period
What is PAWS Extension Period?
This year we will be piloting a creative schedule that will provide students with academic supports in their classrooms on a rotating basis. Daily, students will benefit from a 30-minute extension of one of their seven scheduled courses. For example, on Monday a special tone will ring at the end of first period to indicate the beginning of a 1st Period PAWS Extension called PAWS Period. During PAWS Period, students will be placed temporarily in three tiers based on grades they earned up to that point in the quarter. Students in each tier will require different levels of intervention. Teachers will use this 30-minute extension to address the needs of those students.
Starting Tuesday, August 29, 2023, all students will benefit from a 2nd period extension of 30 minutes during which traditional instruction will cease and tiered supports will begin. This rotation will continue throughout the week and into the next until all 8 class periods have been extended according to our plan. Then the schedule will reset, and all students will begin their next rotation starting from 1st period through 8th period as the week rolls along. If school is cancelled due to a snow event, for example, all students will return to school and resume with the next consecutive PAWS Period that was missed so that we maintain continuity throughout the quarter. We believe that our PAWS period, the only one of its kind in Charles County, will be a great benefit to our students at all levels!