Anonymous wrote:This is school by school. I much preferred the departmentalized model having experienced both at our school (had a principal switch). I don't understand why MCPS central micromanages so much and then leaves this kind of thing to principal discretion.

👏. Exactly. This is something that should and could be standardized across all ES and help with the MS adjustment.

This is school by school. I much preferred the departmentalized model having experienced both at our school (had a principal switch). I don't understand why MCPS central micromanages so much and then leaves this kind of thing to principal discretion.

Schools that don't departmentalize their upper grade levels are really doing the students a disservice for when they get to middle school. It makes the transition much smoother.

I wish my school would departmentalize for 3-5th. The only switching is for Math/ELA and it’s really about getting the advance kids all together for those subjects.

We also have 5 teachers for 5th. Here is how it works in our school:

They divide the academic day into three periods (I think of 90 minutes each). Kids rotate among them, going to one period of:

* ELA
* Math
* Social studies/science/enrichment (1/2 of period is social studies or science, the other 1/2 enrichment. Enrichment is leveled by reading group and is either Jr Great Books or William & Mary. Our school does not offer ELC yet.)

Teachers each teach three periods.
* One teacher teaches 3 periods of ELA
* One teacher teaches 3 periods of math
* One teacher teaches 3 periods of social studies/science/enrichment
* one teacher teaches 2 periods of ELA and 1 period of social studies/science/enrichment
* one teacher teaches 2 periods of math and 1 period of social studies/science/enrichment

Unsurprisingly, the most junior teachers are teaching 2 types of classes, and the most senior just 1.

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't it only work with an even number of teachers/class sections? At our school, there were five sections in a grade one year and they had two teachers teach math/science both mornings and afternoons, two teachers teach ELA/social studies both mornings and afternoons, and the fifth teacher taught all subjects.

No-we have five 4th grade teachers. One teaches math, one teaches reading, one for resource block/SS, the other science/health, and the last one teaches writing/SEL.