What I don't understand is why FCPS has 3 MS that are 6-8 and all of the others are 7-8. Anyone know the answer?

Anonymous wrote:This is interesting because most of the private schools in NYC split earlier rather than later. Lower school is K-4 while middle school is 5-8.

That’s what my sons private school does here too.
And within that, the 5-6 kids are in one hallway and 7-8 are in a different one, so there’s some differentiation there too.
It’s worked really well for my kids.

I grew up k-5, but definitely wished we at least k-6. Middle school imo just doesn't really allow kids to be kids, I wished it was more kid like. Those of you that like k-5 or even k-4 or 3 what did you like about it so much? Did you feel that it forced you or your kids to grow up faster than they had to?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My cousins all went to a “freshman center” after middle school. They separated the kids out and just had 9th graders by themselves. Everyone seemed to love it but I wondered about getting AP courses and having the right amount of teachers for different courses.

That's what I did in my school, though I think it was partly based on school overcrowded -- they just took the overflow area and made it the freshman center. It was nice for class bonding and easing into HS. We didn't worry about AP courses because things were less crazy then and nobody took any APs until junior year!

I actually think this would be a great idea to implement here. And APs and stuff wouldn't be a problem because there is a range of so many levels for students in this area.

Anonymous wrote:This is interesting because most of the private schools in NYC split earlier rather than later. Lower school is K-4 while middle school is 5-8.

I think this makes a lot more sense TBH. I grew up with K-5, 6-8, 9-12 but I would be in favor of K-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. I think kids need at least three years at a school to really form any sense of attachment/comfort and this way the kids would be with kids more similar in age. I actually think there is a much bigger gap between a 9th and 12th grader than a 6th to 8th grader. And my 5th grader has zero interest in being around Kindergartners.

Anonymous wrote:My cousins all went to a “freshman center” after middle school. They separated the kids out and just had 9th graders by themselves. Everyone seemed to love it but I wondered about getting AP courses and having the right amount of teachers for different courses.

That's what I did in my school, though I think it was partly based on school overcrowded -- they just took the overflow area and made it the freshman center. It was nice for class bonding and easing into HS. We didn't worry about AP courses because things were less crazy then and nobody took any APs until junior year!

I grew up with K-5, 6-8, 9-12... I don't recall the transition in 6th grade being particularly difficult for me or any of my friends, we quite enjoyed it and frankly it was a relief not to be single-classroomed anymore with kids of widely varying skill levels. I was basically a TA in 5th grade during math time because they had no materials left that I hadn't mastered already.

My sense are there are pros/cons, some kids better served and ready for MS in 6th, for others the extra year in ES helps... but I think it's mostly tinkering in the margins. School district populations shift over time (decades), so I suspect that may have something to do with it as well, the matching between facilities and past decisions and cohort sizes vs. current class cohort sizes.

How awful are all these 7th and 8th graders? That's only 12-14, how bad could they be,m

Some make those decisions based on budget and facility limitations. Others actually look at data and research on best outcomes for the students.

My 6-8 middle school does a very good job of separating the 6th graders in the school. 6th is a funny year. Some kids are babies and some have really moved on.

I can see if I had a young 6th grader I would not love them being around 7-8.

Anonymous wrote:The school system where I grew up had K-4 elementary school 5-6 intermediate school, 7-8 middle school, 9-12 high school. I liked that.

This was what I grew up with also....wonder if it is the same town? The reason behind it was definitely making use of the buildings the town had. By the time my much younger sibling attended school it was K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 after they closed the (very old) 5-6 building and eventually sold it.

I am a believer in keeping 6th graders in ES (or a 5-6 school) and letting them still have recess. I am glad that is what my pyramid in FCPS did so my kids benefitted from it.

My cousins all went to a “freshman center” after middle school. They separated the kids out and just had 9th graders by themselves. Everyone seemed to love it but I wondered about getting AP courses and having the right amount of teachers for different courses.

I grew up in K-5, 6-8, 9-12.

I had no issues with it at all, by the end of 5th we were all ready to move on from elementary, into puberty- so, crushes and teen magazine type stuff. And since we were the oldest at the school, it wasn't like we were being influenced by older kids, it was just changing to a different phase of life by then.

I don't recall such a profound shift from 8 to 9th.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid, we had 7-9 and high school was 10-12.

Having seen multiple school systems, I appreciate keeping 6th graders with other elementary school kids. They are big, some are adult-sized, but they're still little kids. Putting them with the 7th graders or 8th graders, they grow up too fast.

My kids are in a K-6th, then 7th-9th system. Several of the 6th grade classes seem to be bored of the elementary school by that time. It looks like they are ready for more challenges, and don't really participate in the "little kid" activities at the elementary. Maybe the solution is that 6th-8th should do a better job of supporting the new 6th graders.

What were they bored of? Maybe I was just a kid longer than most, but I would have loved 6th in elementary. Not a ton of homework, recess, halloween festivities, playing outside.

My kid was definitely ready to move out of the ES method of staying with one class all the time (or majority), lining up to move thru the hallways and always needing to be supervised. Changing classes in MS with a variety of classmates and teachers was a relief. Recess was still desirables, but not a ES playground, or the behavior based incentives engrams and the reward choices at the end of the quarter-they were more geared to the little kids and you could see the fifth graders were over it by midway through the year.

We had primary (K-3), elementary (4-6), jr. high (7-8) and high school (9-12). They switched to middle school (6-8) when I was in later grades. I liked having the division between primary and elementary schools.