“The Forgotten Middle” will be transformed into a solid bridge to the future in the Lapeer Community Schools.
Timed to launch with the start of the Fall 2010 semester at Rolland-Warner and Zemmer middle schools, the district will debut a new curriculum designed to better integrate grades six through eight into students’ academic and social preparation for graduation and college. The curriculum is designed to be a better bridge between state requirements for curriculum at the elementary and high school levels.
Lapeer Community Schools Superintendent Debbie Thompson called the initiative a “world class” addition to the district’s instructional program.
Members of a district-wide committee helping to shape the curriculum presented highlights of it to the Board of Education and public during a meeting at Schickler Elementary School on Thursday.
The plan focuses on a flexible core block of classes with a team approach. Teachers will share teams of 120-130 students and will work together to develop class schedules and address needs of their students.
The I-Connect component will allow time for students to talk to each other and a trusted adult about issues they might be facing outside of the classroom. It is designed to improve communication between students, teachers and parents.
Committee member and Zemmer at Rolland-Warner Acting Assistant Principal Merideth Collins said for many years middle school has “simply been tagged on” to the elementary and high school programs.
“While students have been taken care of on either side of the middle … we need to focus on what we will do for those kids while they are there in order to bridge that gap between early education and high school reform,” Collins said.
Collins said research has shown that building sustainable relationships with students in the middle school grades makes a significant contribution to their academic and social success.
“It gives them the skills and tools necessary to be successful during their high school years,”she said.
Committee member and Zemmer at Rolland-Warner Assistant Principal Joe Shoopman said it is important to develop strong relationships with students early to help them graduate and be successful in college.
“The path to graduation does not start in high school, it begins in kindergarten,” he said. “Current research suggests that when there are not behavior issues, when students are attending at 95 percent, that their chance of graduating at the end of 12th grade is tremendously improved.”
