Students struggled to keep their eyes open during fourth period on March 4 without the extra hour of sleep that they usually get before school on Wednesdays, although looking forward to the early 1:35 p.m. ending.

That day, all the teachers, counselors and administrators from both SHS and Redwood Middle School gathered together for an after school collaboration from 1:40 to 3:10 p.m in the Saratoga High library and in other rooms. The modified schedule allowed SHS teachers to match the middle school schedule, since the middle school staff has collaboration time every Wednesday after school.  

At the collaboration event, teachers were able to discuss items applicable to the schools as a whole as well as significant topics for each department.

“[It was] an opportunity to bring the Redwood teachers and our teachers together to talk about topics such as Common Core state standards, curriculum and transition from middle to high school,” SHS principal Paul Robinson said.

According to Robinson, it has been a long time since faculty from the two schools have got together.

“I’m not sure when it was done before, but Redwood is our feeder school and the more we work together the better it is for our students,” Robinson said. “This time together may raise more questions at first, but the more we do it we can find answers that make a difference for students.”

The event was Robinson’s first attempt to collaborate with a feeder school district, since he only had previous experience in unified school districts.

“I speak with Kelly Green, the principal of Redwood, all the time, but real good work happens when teachers talk with teachers,” Robinson said.

According to Robinson, the teachers had considered the possibility of a collaboration, but it was not plausible until Redwood changed its schedule to have time to collaborate on Wednesdays. After the schools discussed dates and agreed on the day, they scheduled the collaboration.

Although Robinson is unsure whether collaborations will continue, he hopes the event will benefit both schools.

“This time together may raise more questions at first, but the more we do it we can find answers that make a difference for students,” Robinson said. “We both are excited about the possibilities.”