Night School

Night school for high school students will occur in person at Newman Smith High School.

Students who wish to participate in night school during the Spring 2024 semester should email their school counselors as soon as possible to express their interest and to obtain confirmation from the counselor that the student is ready for the course/s they wish to take.

Night school, while offered in-person through computer based courses, is provided by teachers who grade assignments and have the ability to provide feedback and work in small groups and with individual students who need tutorials. Teachers may also provide re-teach mini lessons when students are not initially successful on the assessments. Students will be required to take all tests and exams during class sessions.

The English 3 Semester A course requires a speech/debate activity where the student will need to participate in a cooperative assignment in order to fulfill the assignment requirements.

Night school course availability is contingent upon sufficient enrollment. Courses with low enrollment are subject to cancellation, and students intending to take those courses would need to arrange another option for obtaining credit through their school counselors. Questions about night school may be addressed to the night school principal, Mary Reed, at reedma@cfbisd.edu.

Students will receive their schedule and a virtual Night School Orientation form prior to the first class. Parents are welcome and are encouraged to become familiar with the virtual orientation information, as well. The links to the virtual orientation information will be sent by email to each student who registers. Students will complete an online form acknowledging they have viewed and agreed to the information in the orientation document.

The night school format requires a certain level of individual determination and commitment, and students will need to structure their weekly schedules so that they can dedicate time for night school instruction, completion of assignments, studying for quizzes and tests, taking assessments, and communicating with the teacher. The night school semester is shorter than the traditional spring semester, spanning from February 6-May 1, 2024.

While the average lecture component of each course averages approximately 30 total hours per course, students will need to factor in additional time for assignments, assessments, studying, and tutorials with the teacher. Although it may vary by student and course, a very general time estimate would be to set aside a minimum of four to six hours each week for each semester course in which a student enrolls. If a student commits to two semester courses, he or she should consider setting aside at least 8-12 hours each week to work on the courses. Students may find that they need to spend more or less time on each of their specific courses. Students are encouraged to consider the time commitment when making the decision to enroll in night school in addition to a full school day schedule. Please be advised that although work is allowed at home outside of class time, all assessments must be completed during class meetings.

Tuesday classes: 5:00pm-8:00pm on Tuesdays, between 2/6/24 and 4/30/24
Thursday classes: 5:00pm-8:00pm on Thursdays, between 2/8/24 and 5/2/24

Students may email teachers at any time during the week, but we ask for their understanding that the teacher works full time
during the regular school day and may not be able to immediately respond if questions arise outside their night school class time. This includes emailing the night school principal.

Night school courses are based on mastery, and once the student has reached 100% course completion with a passing grade (> 70%), the student will have finished the course and will no longer be required to participate in the weekly class meetings. The grade will be reported to the registrar of the student’s home campus when the night school semester ends. While the grade will be reported, courses taken via Edgenuity will not be calculated into the student’s grade point average. Classes taught by a teacher without using Edgenuity (ESOL 1, ESOL 2, Creative Writing) ARE calculated into a student’s GPA).

Students may take two semester night school courses at a time (such as a .5 credit Algebra 1 semester A, and .5 credit US History Semester A).

If a student completes a semester-long fall night school course with a passing grade by the end of October and wishes to enroll in an additional night school course for the remainder of the night school semester, the student may do so upon approval of his or her school counselor and the availability of a night school teacher and room in the class section. The added course/s must be completed no later than December 7, 2023 by 8:00pm.

Students who enroll in night school are asked to commit to following course guidelines and to completing courses within the night school semester. Students will not be given credit for partial course completion. Prolonged periods of online inactivity and failure to respond to teachers’ emails will be addressed by the night school principal and may constitute removal from the night school program without a refund for course tuition. Students with excessive absences may also be dropped from the course and will not receive a refund for course tuition.

The following courses may be taken for acceleration and credit recovery:

• English 3, Semesters A & B
• English 4, Semesters A & B
• Geometry, Semesters A & B
• Advanced Quantitative Reasoning, Semesters A & B
• Health
• Government
• Economics
• World Geography, Semesters A & B
• World History, Semesters A & B
• Spanish 1, Semesters A & B
• Spanish 2, Semesters A & B
• Psychology
• Sociology 
• Creative Writing (For English Language Learners, structured for students new to the United States), Semesters A & B
• ESOL, Semesters A & B
• ESOL, Semesters A & B
• Environmental Systems, Semesters A & B
• Integrated Physics & Chemistry, Semesters A & B

The following courses are available in night school only for credit recovery:

• English 1, Semesters A & B
• English 2, Semesters A & B
• Algebra 1, Semesters A & B
• Algebra 2, Semesters A & B
• US History, Semesters A & B
• Biology, Semesters A & B
• Chemistry, Semesters A & B
• Physics, Semesters A & B