Honors Classes Up for Review

With hopes that continuous discussions will lead to action, administrators in the Glen Cove School District say they are aiming to establish a full-fledged honors program at the Robert M. Finley Middle School. 

During a special school board meeting on Monday, school officials discussed their intentions to improve the honors curriculum for students at the school, with many noting that they would like to see honors classes available in each grade and in nearly all subjects.

The middle school, which serves students in sixth through eighth grade, currently has honors level instruction in seventh and eighth grade only. 

"We are all here tonight because we want the best possible program in place for our students," said Ida McQuair, the board's president. "We're starting these discussions, so we can have a clear vision for this program."

Throughout the meeting, administrators stressed that the honors curriculum needs to be different from regular courses with more challenging coursework, and it needs to have instruction that aims to improve, among other things, students' critical thinking and state test performance.

Board member Joel Sunshine urged the district's department chairs to consider implementing instruction that will help more students score at a Level 4 — which is a mastery score — on the state's annual English Language Arts and Math tests. 

No specific plans or changes have been announced because, school officials said, this topic is only at the discussion level. Superintendent Dr. Laurence Aronstein noted, however, that this September is a possible target month to start a revamped honors curriculum at the school.

Aronstein said that he will make a formal presentation about this topic at the board's next meeting on March 8 at the middle school. Since Monday's meeting was for board discussions only, administrators said, residents will have the opportunity to express their thoughts about this issue at next Monday's meeting.