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So, What Is This Intersession?

Jan. 6, 2006

By Patric Hedlund

Recent news reports about the Intelligent Design elective class offered during the high school’s “intersession” has raised this question. Our intrepid intern explains it all here.
By Jacob Patton, The Mountain Enterprise Student Intern

Intersession is the pro-gram between semesters at Frazier Mountain High School (FMHS) that allows students to either make up credits (in remediation classes) or choose electives for credits. Intersession begins annually at FMHS on January 3 and lasts for four weeks.
For students who need remediation, intersession counts for a semester’s credit. because it is intensive coursework three hours per day. For the majority of students however, intersession is a time to choose from a variety of fun elective classes.

Intersession offers classes teaching anything from “Weights and You” to Knitting.
Other high schools don’t offer a chance to remediate classes or take classes for extra credits, except in summer school. [FMHS doesn’t offer summer school because the district “can’t afford it” Superintendent John Wight said Sunday Jan. 1-Ed.]. Here, students have a chance to gain more credits during the regular school year than other high schools offer.

During intersession, school begins at 8:30 a.m. There are two classes, instead of the seven in our regular school terms. Intersession classes are about two and a half hours long. Everyone is required to enroll in two classes, except seniors, who have the option of taking only one class. Lunch break takes place between classes one and two. Intersession is a great work break for high school students and is usually thought of as one of the funnest times of the school year.

Editor’s Notes: During the Sunday Jan. 1 ETUSD Trustee’s meeting, the downsides of intersession were also noted. Those include the points that (1) Students lose four months of instruction in core subjects over the course of their high school years, putting them at a disadvantage in competitive exams with students who have at least 480 additional hours in which to develop competence in subjects tested on the SATII’s; (2) According to Scott Biering, a graduating senior applying to colleges, he has been told that State Colleges and the University of California often do not accept the “elective” credits because these courses have not been accredited; (3) The electives are perceived by some admissions officers as being a means by which to inflate the grade point averages of FMHS students, letting an “A” in Knitting for instance offset a “C” in geometry, turning a 2.0 GPA to a 3.0 GPA. Does this help our students, or threaten graduates’ academic credibilty? These are questions the Trustees intend to consider.

 

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