K-8 schools

My town recently got a new mayor, and he is considering combining the elementary schools with the middle schools. Are you for, against, or have any thoughts on the issue? It's an interesting topic to me, so I thought I'd see what you guys have to say.

-Chrissie :)

P.S. Even though I'm changing out of the district into a private high school in the fall of 2010, I personally am against it. Thanks for everyone's comments!

I go to one and it's fine. I'm currently in 8th grade in New York City and sometimes it's annoying to have little kids everywhere but if you keep to your grade it's not that bad.

I don't think it's a good idea because the schools will be too crowded. Also, all the students who want to learn won't be able to because more students means more distractions. It will be chaos in the hallways and lunchtime will be horrific. That's what I think.

I go to Catholic K-8 school right now, with approximately 750 students school-wide. There are separate wings for K-2, 3-6, and 7-8, so there's not much interaction in the hallways and the grades eat lunch separately. It's really not crowded at all, and I don't feel as if the fact that it's K-8 has hampered my learning.

The problem is distinguishing which factors lead to which outcomes. For example, our math program is not so great, but I could blame that on a number of things. Catholic school? Private school? Bad teachers? Too crowded? Bad textbooks? The fact that nine grades are crammed into one school?

My school goes from K-13 how do you like that

I went to a K-8 school several years ago, I used to go to a K-5 school, and I now attend a K-12 school.

Generally, with a large number of students, as long as things are co-ordinated well, it's never really a problem. Students from different age brackets have their own space and that's how it goes.

It seems like he's maybe a bit of a loon for going and trying to smoosh these kids all togehter when there are probably some perfectly good buildings that will accommodate them just the way things are now.

They're actually considering doing this with the schools in the area I live. I live in the UK. Therefore, there is Primary school (Ages 4-11) and Secondary school (Ages (11-16) Although, with the secondary schools, you have a choice to stay until you are 18.

They're considering getting rid of Primary schools and combining them with secondary schools, which I think is just stupid. There is over 1000 kids in my school as it is, I don't want another thousand. Imagine the problems that could occur. Two thirds of my country are against this, so hopefully, it will not happen.

As for your case NY, I don't think that they should combine elementary schools with Middle schools. Like I've just said, the less students in the school, the better. It is if you ask me, anyway. That makes me sound like a miserable donkey.... To be honest, I really like the school system in America. The whole elementary, middle and High school thing is really good. It's better than the schools in the UK, anyway!

I go a small k through 9 school and I kind of like it. The little kids are cute, so you can look at them, but for me you never have to interact xD It can be annoying sometimes when you have to always watch what you're doing and saying in front of them, but my school's strict, so you get used to it anyway I think it's perfectly fine, not horrible at all.

A couple of quick notes, though I think one was answered by you already - the mayor decides on the schools? I know at least in my county in the US in California, we have a school board that runs each district, and then one for the state, which oversees all the individual school boards. I think we have a national one as well, though I'm not sure about that. Thus, I was confused when you said mayor! Anyway!

To the more relevant/prevalent issues! Size isn't necessarily an issue. The school my mum works at is in the third year of converting from a k-5 to a k-8. When I was in primary school, the school I attended was transitioning out from a k-8 to a 6-8, with two elementary schools opening within ten years to accommodate the lower grades. In my case, it was partially a matter of space for splitting up the grades, and partly due to a known increase in demand for the lower grades that could not be accommodated in the space within the school. It was a few small grades during the transition, but once my younger brother went through two years behind me, and I think the first year of the complete switch, the grades were larger, and the school was just fine.

Now, on the school mom's at - the school is very small, and was not using all their space. The options were to close the school, or to expand to a k-8. I speak here only of my own experiences and what my mom and her colleagues have spoken about with me - ask a younger student, I really enjoyed having the older kids around, especially when we had activities that spanned the entire school, like plays and various after school programs (I was a GATE kid, for anyone who knows that program, for one such example). On the other hand, by fifth grade, when we were, yet again, the youngest grade at the school, and the only ones not in the upper grades, it sucked. It felt like we were an invading force, and hugely outnumbered. Yet, it was great when we were younger and not the only "kids", so to speak, in the school. I'm not sure how I would have felt as an older student with the younger ones - I know I loved not going to school with my brother, but that's more a matter of us "hating" each other at that age (and me hating the fact he was bigger than me by the time I was, like, 12). Space is an issue, as are funds to help the transition, and that's something being addressed actually as I type this - well, this upcoming week, anyway. However, it is important to note that one big factor to this change at mom's school is because the school has one of the best ESL programs in our district, and several other programs in place that other schools do not, and in addition is what's called here a Title 1 school, meaning in general the students are performing at or below grade level, so this gives them more time in a more comfortable environment to learn, and a chance to bring up scores while having access to, and I hesitate to use this term, "easier" course material and resources to help students with language issues, etc. Granted, this is highly specific to mom's school, and not the case in general. Also, I know a few parents have expressed how much they like the arrangement for their kids, seeing it as a bit of a sheltering factor before HS. I'm torn on this, still, since I think pushing a little in a still relatively safe and controlled environment (ie another school) would be better for most of the kids, but that's entirely up to opinion. IN addition, on a much more general note, the teachers definitely like this, because it enables them to better teach all their students for longer - known issues are more easily dealt with, and the teachers do rely on each other more for help in teaching their kids. I've volunteered in several of the upper elementary classrooms, and I know since then the issues I would help with are still being addressed by other teachers in the upper grades, and this continuous attention to such issues (such as maths trouble, or difficulty reading, etc), are markedly improved. I cannot say if this would be the same if two separate schools had been attended, however.

On combing in general, however. It's quite possible that combining the schools is the most resource effective right now. If running one site is more cost effective, I can easily understand such a proposition. It may not be the best or most attractive reason, but it is entirely understandable. However, I rather doubt overcrowding would be a problem - if it was, the schools would not be combined, at least I hope not! I know my dad's HS had over 5000 students, and he said the biggest issue was getting to class on time, since the school was so large - but that's the point, the school did fit the student body.

Anyway! That was a lot of semi-coherent thoughts, so if you have any specific questions on what I've experienced/am seeing now, please PM me!