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Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs Middle School may have landed on the perfect schedule this year.

By adopting flexible class times and specialized "intervention" periods, the school has found a way to reduce class sizes and give students more time in the classes they need the most, school officials say.

Principal Tim Bishop said an analysis of test scores and student data inspired the switch to a schedule that includes two 40-minute intervention periods every day. Most students will use one block for their required foreign language - French or Spanish - but teams of teachers will use the other time slot to deliver specialized instruction based on test scores and growth students are showing in their education.

Bishop said there are six basic classes students are steered into during those time slots: math, reading, writing, resource teaching for special needs, a gifted and talented class, or English Language Learners class.

Students will be pulled into classes based on their test scores and abilities.

"All the teachers are working together to use data to decide where students need support," Bishop said. "We're hoping that by examining each student as an individual - and this forces us to do it - our students' skills will rise and continue to rise at a steady level."

The Colorado Department of Education provides test results and data about student progress from year to year. Bishop said that data is then used to ensure students are moving forward constantly and increasing their scores.

The program was used last year for the sixth-grade class but has been expanded to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders this year.

Although core classes have about 25 students per class, the ratio is closer to eight students per teacher during intervention time, Bishop said.

Teachers have discretion to change the subjects being taught during the flexible teaching periods, and they can request that students be moved from one class to another as their individual needs dictate.

Middle school counselor Margi Briggs-Casson said this type of schedule follows a nationwide trend of middle schools moving toward curriculum-based schedules instead of the more structured format of high schools.

"We have a state-of-the-art middle school schedule," she said. "We've been there for nine or 10 years (with flexible schedules). We've called it all kinds of things, but we've never had it honed in like we do now."

Support teachers also can use the time to pull students into occupational therapy, speech therapy or meetings with counselors and psychologists without taking away from core class time, Briggs-Casson said.

The intervention time does not always need to be used for academics, Bishop said. The sixth-grade class now is going through an anti-bullying curriculum, and other social-interaction lessons may be included throughout the year.

The school made time in the schedule for the intervention period by cutting down on passing periods, cutting out an outdoor activity period and switching to a trimester system.

Bishop said several school districts have requested he give a presentation on the new scheduling method, but he has held off until he gets more test results and irons out the kinks at his school.

The system has seen success so far, based on test scores from last year's pilot program, he said.

"Academically, our sixth-graders last year - now our seventh-graders - showed tremendous growth," Bishop said.

Briggs-Casson said schools always are on the quest for a perfect schedule, and this is the closest the school has ever been.

"I imagine we'll keep this for years to come," she said.

- To reach Zach Fridell, call 871-4208

or e-mail zfridell@steamboatpilot.com