May 18, 2008 By Patty Yauger 6 min read

Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a four-part series concerning the upcoming vote by the Connellsville Area School Board to close three elementary schools and reconfigure the grade levels into an intermediate school with grades five through eight at the junior high buildings.CONNELLSVILLE – Nearly 70 middle schools across Pennsylvania provide education to students in grades five through eight, the same grade alignment being proposed by certain members of the Connellsville Area School Board. Should a majority of the board members support the closure of three elementary schools when the panel votes Wednesday, the subsequent plan is to reconfigure the grade levels, which will include combining the four grades into an intermediate school and eliminating the existing junior high school model of grades seven through nine.

The affected elementary schools include Dunbar Borough, South Side and Connellsville Township. In the plan, kindergarten through grade four students will be housed in Dunbar Township, Bullskin Township and Zachariah Connell elementary schools.

Students in grade nine will be incorporated into the senior high school.

According to the figures provided by the state Department of Education (PDE), approximately 580 “middle,” “intermediate” or “junior high” schools exist within the 501 Pennsylvania school districts.

The most popular grade configuration is for the sixth through eighth grades with the seventh- and eighth-grade model being chosen by more than 70 schools. The proposed Connellsville plan of grades five through eight is the third ranked model.

Other concepts combine students in fourth and fifth grades; seventh through ninth; fourth through sixth; sixth through ninth and fifth through ninth.

Three Pennsylvania schools have adopted a middle school model for grades four through eight.

The middle school concept had its beginnings in the 1960s although educators began discussing such a model 30 years prior, according to a Meridian Middle School Computer Technologies Journal article.

The journal is an electronic tool produced by North Carolina State University to introduce middle school teachers to the latest technology.

The early school system had two types of schools at the beginning of the 20th century – a kindergarten through grade eight and ninth through 12th.

Educators determined that the needs of young adolescents were not being met and established a junior high school for grades seven and eight. But by the 1960s it appeared the model was not achieving the set goals and the middle school program was initiated.

“The term ‘middle’ was used as a descriptor not only for the schools themselves, but for the students they served, as these institutions were designed to meet the needs of young people who were between being a child and an adolescent,” according to the middle school journal. “Middle school students are unique in that not only does their physical appearance undergo development, but they are in a state of change socially and emotionally as well.”

Abington Heights Middle School principal Edward Kairis said the northeastern Pennsylvania school district established a fifth through eighth grade middle school in 1974 to allow the pre-adolescents to transition from the elementary school to the high school.

“We try to prepare them for high school while remembering they are not yet in high school,” he said.

The adoption of the middle school philosophy was approved first by the district board of directors, and then a building was constructed to house the nearly 1,100 students, said Kairis.

The four grade levels are in separate areas with approximately 12 teachers staffing each grade.

“It is as though there are four small schools inside one building,” he said. “The idea is to give the child a home base; a place where they feel physically secure.

“Those teachers have common planning time during the day so that they can stay in constant touch with one another and discuss curriculum and student needs,” said Kairis.

The curriculum allows for the fifth grade Abington Heights middle school students to participate in various courses including family consumer science and technology studies along with art, music and physical education.

Kairis said that after a homeroom period, those in fifth grade take part in two of the extra courses each day before academic classes begin.

The building is constructed and a lunch schedule in place that deters interaction between grade levels during the school day.

“When an eighth-grader goes to the lavatory, the only one he or she sees is another eighth-grader,” said Kairis. “We have four lunch periods for each of the four grades.

“Our grade levels very rarely cross paths.”

The students do travel together to and from home.

Kairis said that the district has implemented “an expensive” but feasible three-tier bus schedule to address the student transportation to and from school with middle school classes beginning at 7:45 a.m.

“This is working for us,” he said.

“We are, however, constantly changing; looking for different things to do in the building; the basic structure, such as the teams and scheduling have remained constant.”

Union Area Middle School in New Castle is also a successful program, said school principal David Nerti.

However, parents were skeptical and had many concerns involving the interaction between the younger and older students when it was first introduced.

Separation was not possible when transporting the students, explained Nerti, as the middle and high school students are housed in the same building.

“In the school we do the best we can,” he said. “Our lunches have the fifth and sixth grades together; the seventh through ninth and then tenth through twelve eat during the third lunch period.”

After arriving at the school, the younger students are housed in the auditorium until the start of the day, Nerti added.

The district implemented the middle school concept in the early 1980s and had to overcome some difficulties over the course of time.

“Initially, we had the traditional junior high/senior high school schedule where the bell would ring and everyone would switch classes,” he said of one of the problems that had to be addressed. “It was very chaotic for the younger students.

“We switched to a semi-block schedule; the fifth and sixth grade is housed on one floor of the middle school and students have two or three classes in one room and then move next door for the remaining classes.

“The only time they leave the area is for lunch, art or gym and we have made sure the older students are not in the hallways at the time.”

Nerti admits that the integrated busing does expose the younger students to some behaviors that might not have happened if in an elementary school setting. However, the same behaviors are taking place on the streets or local malls, he said.

“We also have to watch when we bring in special programs; that they are age appropriate,” he said. “That the program is suitable for those in fifth and sixth grade.”

Nerti said that he has seen older students watching out for the younger students in many instances.

“They take them under their wing, especially when they see them being picked on or not being treated fairly,” he said. “They sort of adopt them; like a big brother.”

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