School Hours & Student Activities

What are the school hours?

The Metro building opens at 7:15am for student arrival and closes at 4:00pm daily. Morning announcements are at 7:50am and classes begin at 8:00am. Students arriving after 8:00am are considered tardy. The school day ends at 2:30pm, at which time district buses are on site to transport students home. Parents who provide their own transportation should pick up students by 2:45pm.

Are there activities available after school?

After school activities are offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:45 - 3:45pm. To stay on school grounds after dismissal, students should be engaged in one of the following:

Clubs: Clubs are a way to engage in an activity of interest while building community. Participation is voluntary, but students are asked to commit for a full term. The list of active clubs will be shared in the Weekly Update and in morning announcements at the start of each semester. Students can stay after school to participate in a club on the day it meets and should have a ride home by 3:45pm.

Office Hours: To assist students with remediation of work for Mastery, teachers will offer after-school office hours at least once a week. At the beginning of each semester, the list of teacher office hours will be shared in the Weekly Update and in daily announcements. Students should follow the teacher's requirements to attend their office hours and have a ride home by 3:45pm.

Students on school grounds after dismissal are to be in a supervised activity. Parents are asked to note the following:

• There are no clubs or office hours on Mondays or Fridays; students should have a ride home between 2:30-2:45pm.

• Students staying for after school activities must have a ride by 3:45pm. If you have multiple students at Metro, they all need to be signed up for a club or office hours to stay after 2:30pm.

• Students not picked up on time will be sent to AfterCare. There will be a charge for use of AfterCare services due at the time of pick up.

Mastery & Remediation

Explain the concept of Mastery. Why does Metro require students to achieve Mastery, and how do students achieve it?

The concept of mastery learning ensures that all students can reach high levels of performance if given the necessary supports and time it takes to reach that measure. Metro’s mark of mastery is 90%. Mastery is required to ensure students have a sound understanding of content and are prepared for the next class in a progression. Successful demonstration on mastery assignments and Quality Core End of Course Exams also ensure that high school students are college ready. Having mastery within the high school curriculum is a large component of Metro's entrance agreement with The Ohio State University.

What is remediation, and what can I as a parent do to ensure that my child successfully completes remediation and achieves mastery?
Remediation is an opportunity to have another exposure to the coursework that is yet to be mastered. This can be accomplished through reteaching, alternative assignments, after school office hours, etc. Remediation can vary based on a student's specific needs. Parents play a vital role in helping students manage their current classwork and their remediation work. If you know your child needs to remediate work, ensure they are attending office hours with teachers.

How are parents notified if their child is not on a path toward mastery?
Parents have access to PowerSchool and Schoology and can check both regularly for grades and missing assignments. Teachers will communicate when remediation work is due. It is likely that students will have to recover assignments during the semester, so alarm should only come when multiple assignments have not been turned in. Teachers and Advisors may reach out to parents when there are concerns with student performance, to request student participation in office hours or to request a meeting.

Under what circumstances can a student complete remediation after the semester ends?
Students can complete work outside of the semester, but how this is accomplished is determined based on need. Students who are close to mastery are encouraged to work with their teachers and develop a plan to finish the coursework - either during J-Term, office hours or through an Independent Study. Completing a course after the end of the term is not available to students who do not have a firm foundation of the course content.

For example: a student who had to recover many assignments multiple times or who did not submit multiple assignments may not be eligible for remediation. Mastery means that there is a level of understanding and independence in completing the assigned work; those students missing a firm foundation in the course content would need to retake the course.

Under what circumstances must a student retake a class in its entirety?
See previous question.

How and when are parents and students notified about remediation options?
Via email, teacher updates, or Schoology

Parent Resources

What are PowerSchool and Schoology and how do they work? What do I do if I have forgotten how to access my account? 

Powerschool is the general online gradebook. Parents can set up an account to check student grades, attendance and fees due. Schoology is a learning management system; like a virtual classroom that allows teachers to create, manage, and share content/resources with students digitally. Schoology can be used to find class-specific information, including assignments, rubrics and due dates. Both systems have a method of self-service to reset passwords.

What can a parent do to best ensure that their student is keeping up with course assignments, meeting academic expectations, and moving forward to achieve mastery? What are parent “best practices”?

Parental engagement is the key to helping your child achieve mastery. There are some simple things that can actually go a long way:

1. Daily, ask your child what they worked on in class and what homework they have.

2. Provide a homework area for your child.

3. Monitor homework progression. Students can “look “ busy for hours only for you to later find out they were surfing the web. Hold them accountable by asking what they are working on and noting where they are navigating online. Give them benchmarks of where they should be at the next check-in time.

4. Check Schoology. This should detail the weekly assignments and daily homework.

5. Check PowerSchool. This is the online gradebook. Look for assignments that are due or missing and have a conversation with your child.

6. Attend conferences and reach out to the Advisor if there are general concerns.

What is the best way to communicate with a teacher? What should I do if I do not receive a response from a teacher or if the response doesn’t adequately address my concern?

The best way to communicate with your child’s teacher is via email. If you do not receive a response within 48 hours, then it is appropriate to send another email. If the response does not adequately address your question, then a phone call or a face to face conversation can be requested. You may contact administrators if issues persist.

Advisory & Student Presentations

What is Advisory? What is the role of the Advisor? 

The role of the Advisor is to serve as a 1:1 advocate for each student. Advisors often stay with students over multiple years and come to know them quite well. In Advisory, there is academic planning, socio-emotional learning, team-building and service learning opportunities.

The Advisor, along with the school counselors and OSU Academic Advisor, all work collectively to offer academic and career counseling to high school students. Advisors and advisees can have scheduled appointments and will typically have regular check-ins during Advisory class throughout the year.

What are Roundtables?

A Roundtable is a presentation given by each student at the end of the semester, which is facilitated through Advisory. It is essentially a performance check-in between the student, parent and Advisor. The student reflects on their performance through the lens of the Metro Habits, reflects/sets SMART goals and details their unique experiences since the previous Roundtable (design challenges, college visits, career shadowing, service learning, etc).

What are Gateways?

A student is eligible for a Gateway when they have met the majority of the high school requirements. Gateways are similar to Roundtables in that they are student led presentations facilitated with the student's Advisor. However, in Gateways, students are defending why they are now ready for the next step in their academic career. When a Gateway is passed, students are approved to enter into Early College Experiences that include their first endeavor with college coursework.

Early College Program (High School)

What is a Learning Center?

Learning Centers are Early College Experiences. Each ECE is focused around a particular area of content: Bodies (Healthcare), Growth (Agriculture/Food Systems), Design (Engineering) and Energy (Economics and Energy Resources). ECE’s serve as a bridge between high school and college coursework.

When do students participate in ECEs?

Once a student has earned the majority of their high school credits and passed their Gateway, they are eligible to enroll in an ECE. This typically takes place during fall semester of the junior or senior year.

How many courses comprise a learning center?

ECEs have both high school and college courses. Since ECEs run for the entire year, they can have between 3-5 high school courses and 2 or more college courses for the school year.

Do students have the choice of which learning center to take, or are they assigned?

Yes, students have a choice. Each ECE has particular college courses that are selected as next steps and students must meet Ohio State’s requirements for admission to each of the learning centers based on coursework completed. For example: the Bodies ECE includes OSU Biology courses. Students must have all of the prerequisite high school courses completed at mastery (Biology, Chemistry and Physics).

Do all high school students participate in an ECE before transitioning to classes at Ohio State?

Yes. Students cannot skip the early college experiences to enroll in college classes.

Other Questions

What is the process for a student to receive a work permit?

If your child is beginning employment and a work permit is required, complete both pages of the Application for Minor Work Permit form and return to Metro for processing.

• Student/Applicant Information – to be completed by student and parent. Leave the Superintendent signature section blank.

• Pledge of Employer – to be completed by a representative from the place of employment

• Applicant Information – to be completed by student and parent

• Physician’s Approval – to be completed by your doctor or clinic

Forms may be turned in at the front desk or the Counselor's office. Please allow 1-2 business days from the submission of the application to have your work permit ready for pick-up.