“Elevating Student Voice While Breaking Down Barriers:
How Passion Periods and Enrichment Periods are Transforming Student Engagement”

In the ever-changing world of education, middle schools continually face challenges in engaging students while meeting their diverse needs. These challenges are even more evident in smaller, one-school districts where much of the focus is on the needs of elementary school students. To address these challenges, during the COVID-19 pandemic, staff members of the Netcong School District worked together to develop an innovative passion period program and flex period to increase middle school students' access to MTSS while also promoting a positive school culture and climate. The outcome has been a more personalized and enriching educational learning experience for middle students at Netcong Elementary School.

Passion Periods: Fostering Student Engagement

Passion periods, which are offered on Mondays and Fridays, provide students with an exciting opportunity to explore topics that spark their curiosity outside of the traditional curriculum. From coding to chess to swing dancing, these courses are entirely student-chosen and teacher-designed. The process of implementing the passion period program was born out of discussions with middle school and related arts faculty in PLCs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Faculty members pitched ideas, developed course descriptions, and sought input from students on topics they would like to study. This process not only empowers students to select courses they are interested in learning about, but it also fosters students’ engagement in their learning. Furthermore, utilizing staff expertise and leveraging the use of Google Forms for the course selection process, we have created a system that fosters an innovative way for students to explore different topics without requiring significant additional resources.

Enrichment Periods: Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), What I Need Now (WINN) and Beyond  

Enrichment periods take place for middle school students on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, providing dedicated time for students at the middle school level to receive Tier II and Tier III interventions in ELA and math. Counseling services, ESL services, supplemental reading, additional band and choir opportunities, along with personalized learning opportunities utilizing the IXL and iReady platforms, are available to middle school students during the enrichment periods. During the enrichment periods, students are provided with the flexibility of determining their WINN and this allows for comprehensive supports to be provided to them thus ensuring that students’ needs are being met which fosters an environment of academic growth and holistic development.

Building a Positive School Culture and Climate: The House Points System

To further enhance student engagement and promote a positive school culture and climate, the Netcong Elementary School recently implemented a points behavior management system utilizing the RCA House Points platform. The House Points system is integrated into the passion period and enrichment programs as well as the school day of middle school students at Netcong Elementary School. Through the House System, the students earn points for demonstrating good character, academic success, and school spirit. This not only celebrates student achievement but also encourages collaboration among students and staff, engages parents as they have access to their child's house points, and creates an overall sense of belonging in the Netcong school community.

The integration of the passion periods, MTSS, WINN, and House System provides students with a voice in their education while breaking down barriers and increasing access to a variety of courses and topics. Furthermore, the comprehensive supports provided to students under this model, along with promoting a positive school culture and climate, fosters a learning environment for middle school students at Netcong Elementary School where they can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally by exploring their passions and achieving their goals while becoming lifelong learners.