Along with the new tardy policy, OCS was completely overhauled for the new school year. It went from what was essentially a day-long study hall to a structured schedule with specific times for each subject. The revamp was led by assistant principals and involved teacher feedback. The Colt sat down with assistant principal Brent Pfaff to discuss the changes to the program.

One new feature involves adding teachers into the OCS classroom so students can receive the academic help they may need.

“We have added four core teachers on a rotation schedule that float into OCS every other day to lend support in math, science, social studies and English,” Pfaff said.

The second feature added to OCS is getting students face-to-face with their counselors to “discuss why the student was assigned to OCS and develop a plan to keep themselves out of OCS for next time,” Pfaff said.

The idea to revamp OCS stemmed from the thought that, “The most important place for students to achieve and learn is in a classroom staffed by a highly qualified, caring teacher,” he said. As well as trying to “find ways to support those students academically so that they do not fall behind (to the extent possible) and support them behaviorally and emotionally so that they make different decisions in the future.” 

Though it is too early in the year to see the results of the changes, Pfaff feels confident in them.

“Real proof will be seen at the end of the year on our STAAR scores and student grade averages,” he said.