Barrington school officials continue their work re-vamping the high school honors program.

A special student forum to discuss honors in English language arts and social students will be held at Barrington High School on Wednesday, April 27. School officials are hoping to use the forum to better understand the student experience with the honors distinction program.

Barrington High School leaders have acknowledged that the switch from honors classes to the new honors distinction program, where students are grouped in heterogenous classes and allowed to complete additional work to achieve an honors distinction, did not go as planned. Officials said fewer students attempted the honors distinction option, citing confusion about the program’s requirements and other issues.

Last month, Barrington High School Principal Joe Hurley announced the school would be eliminating the honors distinction option in ELA and social studies courses. That news drew a sharp rebuke from students and their parents, and a few weeks later, Hurley offered a new direction: he said the high school would be rebuilding the honors distinction program. He said there was not enough time to return to honors classes. 

The Barrington School Committee has tasked high school officials with building a plan for a new, re-worked honors distinction program, and they want to see that plan next month.

“School leadership will use the information gathered from this forum, survey data, and … faculty feedback to inform our decisions regarding honors moving forward,” stated a recent press release from the district. “Additionally, we will be meeting with a team of students and faculty to finalize the 2022-2023 honors program.”

Hurley has said that teachers earlier called for the elimination of the honors distinction program, however, he assured school committee members that he would work with faculty to build a new program. 

The Barrington Times reached out to Barrington High School English Department Chairman Kevin Blanchard to learn more about teachers’ experiences with the honors distinction program, but he would not comment any further than “…right now we're still in conversations about what's best for our students and teachers.”

The recent press release from the district offered a schedule for the re-worked honors distinction program. 

“We will submit a report for final approval to the superintendent by mid-May. The plan will be discussed at a May School Committee meeting TBD. School leadership will use guidance from the Superintendent and feedback from the School Committee to develop and communicate the final design and program requirements by June 10, 2022.”

Survey says

In addition to the April 27 student forum, district officials also issued surveys to Barrington High School students and parents of students to gather more information about the honors distinction program.

The survey for parents and guardians included six questions. The first asked what grade the respondent’s child was in — freshman or sophomore. (It is not clear if there was a separate survey for middle school students’ parents or the parents of upperclassmen.)

It also asked if the respondent’s child did or did not participate in the honors distinction program, and why. Some possible answers: “Workload too much,” “Not a subject of interest,” and “Did not understand the honors distinction expectations ahead of time.”

There was also a question asking the respondent’s preference: “Honors distinction to stay the same,” “Honors distinction to stay, but improve,” or “Separate honors classes.”

The survey was made available to only one parent or guardian per household.