Middle school can be hard on students socially and academically.
The Dolores School District has decided to do something about those awkward middle school years by moving the sixth grade back into the elementary school. So starting next year, Dolores Elementary School will be a K-6 school, and the middle school will be for seventh and eighth grades, thereby decreasing the "middle school years" by one year.
A meeting was held at Dolores Elementary School last week, Sept. 18, to discuss the upcoming change.
Dolores Elementary School Principal Sherri Maxwell told a small group of parents that the transition should be an easy one because sixth-graders already take physical education and art classes at the elementary.
"They are kind of spread out all over the place right now," Maxwell said.
The move should help students overall.
Research, Maxwell said, shows that sixth-graders placed in middle school typically have more discipline problems and lower test scores than their peers who attend elementary schools. In addition, placing sixth-graders in middle school can expose them to negative behaviors.
The issue was brought up several years ago when a Dolores School Board members had a sixth-grader herself and was concerned about the sudden change and how sixth-graders seemed to struggle.
"Often, middle school is such a shock," Maxwell said.
The science program in anticipation of the switch will be bumped up, Maxwell said. Sixth-graders will still be allowed to participate in middle school sports and other traditions, such as the science fair and Night of the Notables.
Maxwell said the students will be able to change classes and take electives and they will ease them into the middle school environment.
Traditionally, sixth-graders have gone from having one classroom teacher in fifth grade, to having seven classes and seven different teachers in one day.
"I worry about a lot of my sixth-graders," Maxwell said. "This will make it a little more gradual and supportive."
Maxwell said she hopes sixth-graders will take a leadership role at the elementary and even mentioned sending the class to a leadership training class before school starts next year.
Students are concerned they won't get to purchase a la carte at the cafeteria or have the salad bar, something Superintendent Scott Cooper said they will still be able to do.
"What I am looking at is a hybrid," Maxwell said of elementary and middle school.
One parent attending the meeting, Karen Hackett, said was OK with the idea.
"I'm really excited," she said.
