No one asks why school assignments aren't complete when students arrive at Oneida Middle School’s work recovery program. But they do ensure the work gets done.
Three days a week, about 30 Oneida students stay after school for an hour to complete late class assignments and gradually improve grades in courses they are failing or are on the verge of failing. The school’s teachers and administrators work to remove barriers to assignments' completion, collecting all outstanding work and organizing it into a folder waiting for students when they get to the program.
“Their work is in there,” Oneida Principal Tony Farina said. “We’ve put it there for them.”
Students and their grades are tracked and shared across the building, so teachers can keep track of how their students are doing and administrators can follow which students are falling behind.
At the end of each week, assistant principal Matt DeLorenzo brings students who are behind on work to his office, one by one, to invite them to stay after school for work recovery; he contacts the students’ parents and explains why their kids are being asked to stay. Ultimately, it is up to the parents, but DeLorenzo said none have passed on the chance to get their kids caught up.
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