Hoffman revamps NHS

Avery Chick
NLJ Intern
 
COVID-19 truly threw a curveball at the entire world last year. It hit school systems across the United States particularly hard. Newcastle High School, a school that was significantly less affected by the virus than most, experienced an entire shutdown and then a slowed recovery when the doors opened for the 2020-21 school year. Along with COVID-19 restrictions, NHS also had lost its principal of 16 years, Tracy Ragland, to retirement. But in spite of all the changes – and with most restrictions lifted – NHS was in for quite a different-looking year.
Bryce Hoffman, previously the woodshop teacher and then vice principal of Newcastle Elementary School, would be taking over the administrative responsibilities of NHS as the new principal. Coming into the position, Hoffman was ready to make some changes while still trying to make NHS the best place possible. On the first day of the new school year, the annual “first day assembly” was held in Crouch Auditorium. Hoffman stated that his approach to learning in his newest venture was to do his best to “make sure every student at Newcastle High School felt safe, supported and cared for.” 
“I’d really like each student to have a trusted adult who they can confide in …, who they can reach out to if they are struggling,” Hoffman declared. He said he wants to instill his three goals of safe, supported and cared for into his students, as well as his staff, and has a solid plan to do so. 
“When you’re struggling, you should be able to reach out to an adult at school, so we are trying our best to create that environment for safe, supported and cared for learning,” he said. “We also want our students to feel supported academically. In my opinion, high school students are young adults, all at different levels. To support them, we have to meet everyone
where they’re at.” 
Hoffman spoke about this in relation to his changes to enrichment recovery time (better known as ER time in the halls of NHS). He said that his last goal of students feeling “cared for” is a relatively simple concept to grasp. But,  Hoffman said, he wants to be a caring face that students see when they walk in the building each day. He plans to try hard to make NHS an environment where students feel as comfortable as possible. 
In order to achieve the environment that Hoffman thinks is prime for learning, academics and personal growth and development, certain rules have been put in place to help guide students. One of the biggest changes is a new phone policy.
“Last spring, I surveyed teachers and asked, ‘What are some things that I can help you with to support students in this school?’ Eighty-seven percent of teachers surveyed said that looking at the cellphone policy would be something that was important for them,” Hoffman said. “Distracted learners do not learn very well. Whether it be a text from a peer, or even a parent, that can dampen a student’s entire class period or even day, so we want to try and minimize the chance of them seeing that text as much as possible.” Students are now directed to keep their cell phones put away during class hours. Teachers are to heavily restrict cellphone usage during class when they are needed.
In 2015, Newcastle High School inserted what we all know now as ER time, then named Tech Time. During this time, students would have the opportunity to work on content that they may have gotten behind on or needed to further develop. Since then, Hoffman said, it had largely been underutilized. 
“At the time, I was completing my master’s and I really wanted to answer the question of ‘What do you do when students don’t get it, or don’t understand?’ How can we use this 30-minute block of time to help students? The problem with this time was the student-to-teacher ratio,” he said. “With the new placing of students into classrooms, we try to place them to advocate for an 8-1 student-to-teacher ratio. We have about 75 students in the commons who are all either not requesting a quiet room or not on the D&F list (the athletic ineligibility list).”
The last major thing that Hoffman changed was the “leaving the school” policy. His philosophy, he said, was that he felt responsible for each and every student at NHS. 
“I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if someone got into an accident leaving the school and I was supposed to be responsible for you. I am really just concerned for the safety and well-being of our students,” Hoffman said.
With all the changes to rules and in approaches to learning, NHS should be in for quite a different-looking school year. Hoffman said he will be looking to the senior class of 2022 to lead Newcastle High School in showcasing their ideas regarding initiatives, school spirit and overall school improvement, and he said that they are off to a very nice start.