School panel studies options

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The Boardman district looked at realignment about 10 years ago but didn't pursue it.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN — What makes the best middle school in terms of pupil achievement?

It's a question being explored by a committee of school board members, administrators, teachers, parents, community members and staff that began meeting last spring to study the possibility of realigning school buildings.

"Our main focus is to look at student achievement," said Dr. Linda Ross, district director of instruction who heads the committee. "Can we do a better job with transitioning fourth- and fifth-graders?"

She stressed no decisions have been made. The committee hopes to make a recommendation to the school board by the end of the school year. Members are divided into two groups, one focused on facilities and the other on curriculum.

One option is to house fourth- and fifth-graders in one middle school and sixth- through eighth-graders in a separate school.

The district consists of four elementary schools, which now accommodate kindergarten through fourth grade; Glenwood and Boardman Center middle schools for fifth- through eighth-grades; and one high school for ninth through 12th.

Numbers

Total district enrollment as of last week was more than 5,000 pupils. With 592 pupils, kindergarten posts the highest total among grade levels.

Moving fourth-graders out of the four elementary buildings also would free up more space there, possibly eliminating the need for trailers, said Superintendent Frank Lazzeri.

The possibility was studied and considered about 10 years ago but not pursued likely because of concerns about transportation expense. There were also concerns, Lazzeri said, about a change not providing as many opportunities for pupils to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports.

Committee members will visit the new Austintown Middle School on Raccoon Road later this month to see how that district is addressing the change.

This fall, the new Austintown school opens and will house sixth- through eighth-graders. Frank Ohl Middle School will house fourth- and fifth-graders. The district formerly operated two fifth- through eighth-grade middle schools, Frank Ohl on Idaho Road and the old Austintown Middle School of Mahoning Avenue.

Middle school years can be difficult for pupils as they struggle to find their identities, develop their personalities and establish their social circle, Ross said.

Grouping the younger fourth- and fifth-graders together in a school building might help ease that transition.

Rather than going from an elementary setting where most pupils spend the full day in one or two classrooms to a middle school environment where they change rooms and teachers every period, a different alignment could provide a smoother transition for those children, easing them into the different setting, Ross said.

It also would allow teachers to coordinate with one another.

Configuration study

A national survey conducted among 1,423 middle and junior high school principals lends support to the sixth- through eighth-grade middle school model, according to a paper on grade configuration from the National Middle School Association.

When the administrators were asked about their opinion on ideal middle school grade configuration, 65 percent favored the sixth- through eighth-grade configuration as what best served young adolescents, the paper said.

Kathy Rothman, language arts coordinator at Glenwood Middle School and a committee member, agrees. Before working at the middle school, Rothman was a third- and fourth-grade teacher at West Boulevard Elementary.

"There's a big difference between fifth- and sixth-graders," she said.

Fourth- and fifth-graders, on the other hand, have more in common, both emotionally and educationally, the teacher said.

"Our school is basically a high school atmosphere," she said. "They're coming from the elementary school that is basically a self-contained classroom to fifth grade where they have a schedule and seven or eight different teachers."

Some children adapt to it well, but it can be traumatizing for others.

"The environment isn't really conducive to fifth grade," Rothman said.

She believes another year in a school with a more structured setting would be beneficial to those children.

Like Ross, Rothman believes having all fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in the same building would enable those teachers to work together more effectively.

As a mother of three Boardman pupils — two daughters who graduated and a son who's going in to eighth grade — Becky Amadio provides a parental perspective on the committee.

Her children didn't have difficulty adjusting from elementary to middle school, she said. In fact, they loved it.

"It's a big adjustment, but it didn't affect them negatively," Amadio said.

Still, she understands that it can be a bit intimidating for some children.

Sunday, August 5, 2007