For the first time in RISD, sixth-grade students will now attend school with seventh- and eighth-grade students. Superintendent Tabitha Branum said there are plans to renovate or rebuild the remaining six junior high campuses as middle schools.
Branum added that around 95% of districts around the state use the middle school model.
“The middle school model has so many benefits to students in so many different ways, not just academically, but socially, emotionally [and] organizationally,” Forest Meadow Principal Susan Burt said.
What’s happening
Over 800 new middle schoolers were welcomed to the halls of Forest Meadow and Lake Highlands campuses on Aug. 13, the first day of classes. The opening of the first two middle schools is the culmination of a strategic plan to reconfigure grades within RISD, which was adopted in 2021.
The transition of sixth-grade students to middle school one year earlier will expose them to broader academic and extracurricular activities, Branum said. The consolidation of sixth graders also makes it easier for students who may be enrolled in more advanced classes.
“If you have a sixth grader who’s needing algebra one, we have to either try to do it virtually or get them on a bus, take them somewhere [or] have a parent transport them,” Branum said. “Now, they have an opportunity to take all levels of math sitting right there at the middle school.”
Sandra Hayes, assistant superintendent of district operations, said she and other district officials are eager to move forward with future middle school conversions at RISD’s remaining six junior high schools after renovating Forest Meadow and rebuilding Lake Highlands campuses for the middle school model.
“We have a plan, and we’re ready to move forward as soon as the community agrees with the funding,” Hayes said.
Diving deeper
Branum added that district officials will monitor the transition and glean both successes and necessary changes when future transitions occur, likely as part of the district’s next bond cycle.
“We’re going to be studying this [and] learning,” Branum said. “Ms. Hayes and our [operations] team have already been reflecting on ... ‘What might we do different? How might we strengthen what we do?’”
For the transitions, RISD officials do not anticipate needing additional staff. Rather, staff will move from elementary to middle school campuses.
“It’s really a saving on the staff side of not having to have extra staff to make those moves when they can all stay at the campus and cover the same amount of kids,” Hayes said.
Additionally, students will have more athletic opportunities at middle schools, and district staff will monitor academic progress as they transition, said Jennie Bates, area superintendent of the Lake Highlands High School Learning Community.
The impact
The transition allows the district to meet an increasing demand for pre-K education, which is mandated by the state.
“Now that the Lake Highlands area [schools] opened up, we were able to put some of our pre-K [students] back in their home school area so they don’t have to ride a bus,” Hayes added.
With sixth-grade students moving onto middle schools for the first time, Burt said staff have focused on transitioning these students from iPads to Chromebooks and teaching necessary skills like note taking.
“We’re able to start that at a younger age, which I am hopeful will provide additional success as they move into seventh and eighth grade,” Burt said.
RISD’s sixth-grade teachers can also more readily access other middle school instructors as they lay out plans for student growth.
“They can talk about where our kids are coming in and where we want them to be when they leave,” Burt said.
What’s next?
To cover the cost of the conversion for future middle schools, RISD trustees could call a bond election, district officials said.
Once approved, it typically takes two to three years to convert the campuses, Hayes said. The remaining six junior highs are expected to be converted at the same time, provided funding is approved.
