HPS Lab Schedule Policy

What is a science classroom*?

It is a regular classroom with 6-7 lab tables (30” height, instead of desks), tile on the floor and at least one sink in the classroom. Storage space is also necessary, which can be a counter with cabinets below and over it, around the sink area. Middle school and elementary school science teachers use science classrooms for both science lessons and experiments or hands-on activities.

All campuses (with related grade levels) were provided with a budget to convert/construct at least two middle school science rooms and one elementary science room, to be used by the science teachers.

If space is limited, and science classrooms/labs for middle school or elementary have to be shared, create a rotating schedule for science teachers. For example, on day/period 1 the eighth-grade teacher could be in the lab, while the seventh-grade teacher is in a regular room. On day/period 2 (or any other day/period) the seventh-grade teacher is in the lab and the eighth-grade teacher is in the regular classroom. Similarly for sixth grade (and fifth when possible). This would allow all students to have access to a lab environment to conduct experiments.

Homerooms can also be scheduled in science classrooms, if the homeroom teacher is the science teacher.

What is an HS (High School) Lab?

It is a regular lab with workbenches.

How to use the HS Labs?

There are 2 different options;

1st Option: IDEAL CASE (If space allows, this option is strongly recommended):

No class is scheduled for HS labs.  HS science lessons, pre-lab & post-lab discussions are practiced in regular classrooms. The teachers use HS labs for ;

1. conducting experiments and activities in the curriculum.
2. setting up and cleaning up experiments during planning time.
3. setting up and arranging PBL Level 2-3 activities and other science activities .
4. Preparing STEM projects with students.
5. Keeping the HS lab(s) available for students’ video production of their RTT PBL project as a safe environment to present their project.

2nd Option : MINIMUM REQUIREMENT

Only HS Science Classes are scheduled in a way that each teacher has full access to the science lab at least 2 days in a week. This means that other teacher’s classes should be scheduled to other regular classrooms in those two-three days. This will allow HS science teachers to freely set up experiments during planning time and conduct the experiment for all sections without removing/cleaning up the kits after each use.

In this option, HS Labs cannot be solely assigned to any teacher like other classrooms. This limits the use of this lab by other teachers. In this way, we can ensure that all students have the equal access to use labs. We cannot afford to give every single HS Science teacher a separate lab.

 Note: Use Adjustable stools for HS Lab benches instead of regular stools which are not comfortable enough to sit for 90 minutes.)

What are the other limitations for HS Labs ?

• No homerooms(SSR/DEAR times) can be scheduled. This is very critical for safety issues.
• No sub-teachers are allowed in the HS Labs according to the safety regulations
• MS/ES science classes will use their science classrooms for experiments as long as they use safe materials. In some cases, they may use the labs for certain experiments including hazardous chemicals.
• Any teacher without a lab safety certificate is not allowed to use labs.

What if there are 2 HS Labs but 3 HS Science subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) ?

• Generally, Biology and chemistry have common materials. Physics’ materials are mostly crowded and take up so much space. We suggest that biology and chemistry share the lab to store materials and equipment. This does not mean that chemistry or biology cannot do experiments in the physics lab when the bio-chemistry lab is busy.Science department can use a shared spreadsheet to schedule the labs accordingly.  

• Bio-chemistry lab should be near to the current CHEMICAL STORAGE room.

* Please keep in mind that converting a regular classroom into a science classroom does not affect enrollment.