2015 grade reconfiguration memo

SKSD Grade Reconfiguration Memo

SKSD Grade Reconfiguration Memo Page 1

July 15, 2015

Grade Reconfiguration Recommendation Memo

To: SKSD Board of Directors SKSD Staff

From: Michelle Reid, Ed.D, Superintendent

The purpose of this memo is to announce and explain the recommendation for the phase in of grade reconfiguration in the South Kitsap School District.

BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH

This past year, the South Kitsap School District commissioned a community committee to address the challenge of school district boundary review. This process is one that has not been undertaken in many years (by some accounts, not since the last building projects undertaken in the district, circa 1990). This is work we are planning to maintain a committee for so that we can be nimble in our responsiveness to subsequent student enrollment trends. Our goal would be to continue to anticipate moves we need to make so that all students needs are equitably met.

As the enrollment trends in the South Kitsap School District continue to be variant, we needed to have a review of the current school district boundaries and establish policy that will effectively guide our decision making on this topic in the future. Many school districts have faced similar challenges as population numbers shift within district boundaries. With current zoning and construction permitting, we must be intentional.

This is both a timely and important topic as our community is also experiencing enrollment pattern shifts. We must equitably distribute our students so that we can be financially prudent and so that we can offer access to the best education possible to all students in the district no exceptions.

This past spring, the committee made its recommendation. This dedicated group of people, including parents and staff representative of all schools in the district, and staff from all affected departments in the district, contributed countless hours of diligent study and research into the dilemma our district is facing. The Boundary Committee's recommendation regarding grade reconfiguration was to reconfigure to K-5 Elementary Schools, 6-8 Middle Schools and a 9-12 High School as soon as 2016-17, but no later than 2017-18. They believed that their recommendation addressed several critical topics.

The first was the educational needs of our students, in particular the unique needs of the ninth graders. For the upcoming year, we are planning to bus ninth graders from the three junior highs to the high school so that they might be able to take an Algebra Trig course. Currently, ninth graders are not able to access the courses at the high school since they are housed at the junior highs. There are a range of courses that ninth graders in other districts are able to access because they are on the same campus as tenth thru twelfth grade students. Several examples include, but are not limited to, the availability of multiple foreign language courses, Career and Technical



Education courses, NJROTC and other academic and activity programs. We have moved several new course offerings to the ninth grade in the junior high structure; e.g., AP Human Geography, AP Environmental Science, Pacific Rim languages, etc. However, we cannot financially replicate all the current high school offerings at each junior high site.

Another reason for the Boundary Review Committee recommendation is that moving the sixth graders up to a middle school model (6-8 grades) will leave fewer children at the elementary schools and enable the crowding at multiple elementary schools to be relieved. The class sizes at the elementary level have been reduced and we have worked hard in our district to eliminate the use of split classrooms. Instructionally, it enables more differentiated math and science content instruction at the sixth grade level, as often middle schools have dedicated science lab spaces unavailable at an elementary school, and varying course levels to choose from in the math content area, as there is a different economy of scale to offer these courses at a feeder middle school.

For those that argue that our school district was once much larger in the past and we made everyone fit; today, there are many more program needs and the requirements for these needs have radically changed in the last fifteen to twenty years. For example, all day kindergarten has doubled our classroom space needs for kindergarten students, and each year, more and more preschool students are being identified for special needs intervention classes requiring classroom space within our schools. While these are all great program supports for our community and our families and children, the space in our schools is limited.

It is clear that there are many advantages to the K-5 elementary, 6-8 middle school, and 9-12 high school model. All of our surrounding school districts have transitioned to this model. In fact, the majority of Washington State and the nation operate using this model. The transition to a K-5 elementary, 6-8 middle school, and 9-12 high school model in the South Kitsap School District, makes sense educationally and will also address the issues of school capacity.

In reviewing the research, there are several clear findings inherent in this topic. Hanover Research has done several Meta studies of the data across the country and provided the following history and perspective on the topic of grade level redesign. While many constituents might say it does not matter what the rest of the country is doing if what we are doing here is right for South Kitsap, we must recognize that we are connected to the rest of the country in that we serve many children and families of military personnel. These families and children move about the country and world and are often caught in local school district challenges when there is not alignment.

For example, we have numerous families who transfer here and have students previously enrolled in high school (grade 9) and then find out they need their student enrolled in junior high here to complete their ninth grade year. This has caused issues when we are not able to match courses in a junior high that these students might otherwise have had access to in the high school setting. According to current research, the middle school grade configuration modelthat which separates sixth, seventh, and eighth graders from elementary school students and high school studentsis the prevailing model among U.S. schools. Furthermore, the number of junior high schools in our country has been decreasing over the past four decades. Junior high schools that



serve grades 7 through 9 have become exceptionally rare compared to middle schools, with fewer public schools serving grades 7 through 9 currently identified in the United States.

Currently, the middle school model is dominant among U.S. school districts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2010-2011 school year, there were approximately 12,963 middle schools in the United States, which is an increase of over 10,000 middle schools since 1970. The number of U.S. junior high schools has decreased exponentially during the same time period. The chart below depicts the number of U.S. middle schools relative to junior high schools over the past four decades. The NCES does not report the number of schools with K-8 configurations.

Figure 1: U.S. Middle Schools and High Schools, 1970-2011

Digest of Education Statistics: Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, By Level of School: Selected

Years, 1970-71 Through 2011-12. National Center for Education Statistics.

The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform has developed a list of key considerations for middle grades education that is designed to bring about positive and lasting school improvement, regardless of grade configuration.

Much of the literature surrounding grade configuration suggests that factors outside of grade configuration play equally if not more important roles in student achievement. These factors include the degree to which schools provide focused, individualized instruction to middle grades students and ninth grade students in a high school, as well as the extent to which schools are invested in and committed to taking measures to improve student outcomes.

Generally, this policy agenda notes that young adolescents (middle grades) require more focused, individualized instruction than younger students, as well as ample opportunities to



explore and develop creative interests. Additionally, the National Forum suggests that students should receive specialized instruction in math, science, and reading in order to help them improve their scores on standardized assessments. The National Forums full policy agenda states that schools that serve the middle grades should provide:

Smaller learning communities and other supports from the school, family, and community that help personalize instruction and give students the targeted assistance they need;

A focus on adolescent literacy with support for advancing reading and writing in all the content areas;

Rigorous mathematics and science instruction for all students to equip them for success in high school and beyond;

Qualified teachers in every middle-grades classroom who not only know their subjects well but also how to teach those subjects to young adolescents;

Academic, health, mental health, and other services that support student learning and healthy development;

Access to an array of curricular and extra-curricular activities that foster healthy development, creativity, critical thinking, career exploration, and civic responsibility; and

A fair share of federal, state, and local resources for middle-grades schools and students.

Finally, during the 2008-2009 school year, the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research conducted a study of 303 middle grades schools in California, as well as the teachers and administrators that serve these schools. In this study, the authors identified specific practices that are characteristic of effective middle schools, regardless of grade configuration or the demographics of the students being served. Foremost among these practices is an intense, school-wide focus on improving students academic outcomes. The studys authors further concluded that a sense of shared responsibility among educators for students futures is a hallmark of high achieving schools, and that schools that are the most effective are those that are designed to enable students to leave the middle grades high school-ready,with strong foundational skills, on track to pass Californias high school exit exam, and ready to enter college-preparatory courses. This has ramifications in our planning for the coming transition.

Toward this end, the study concluded that effective schools are those that adopt the following practices intensely focused on student outcomes:

Close alignment of curricula and instruction with state academic content standards;



Extensive use of assessment and other student data to improve student learning and teacher practice;

Personalization so that students and their work are known well;

Early identification of students needing additional support and proactive intervention;

Extensive review of the incoming records of students entering the middle grades as well as the students entering the high school at grade nine.

We also know that students who complete a successful ninth grade year, and are thereby deemed credit ready when they exit the ninth grade year, are four times more likely to graduate from high school on time. This year is a critical academic as well as developmental year.

As we contemplate the movement of sixth graders to the newly designed middle school model, and the movement of ninth graders to the high school, the re-boundary committee recommended this to occur for educational reasons as well as the efficient use of our district facilities given the growth of our population and the increase program requirements on our strained facility needs. It is now up to us to make this transition as smooth and successful as possible.

Each of the two broad based constituent committees (defined later in the report) will have as a focus for their work this coming year, the best educational interests of the children we serve. There will be a great deal of research, much more than the research snippets I have shared in this memo, that will be reviewed. Further, there will be structures and systems to review and recommend for implementation in the innovative model we are developing to meet our student, family, community and school district 21st Century needs. We will maintain a transparent and participatory process.

RECOMMENDATION AND RATIONALE

With this in mind, I am making the following recommendation for the phased-in transition to K-5 elementary schools, 6-8 middle schools and 9-12 high schools (including Discovery) in the South Kitsap School District.

This is a topic that principals and the district leadership team have been discussing for some time and I have been told that across the district this has been a topic for several years.

Parent representatives on the Boundary Review Committee recommended the change. Further, it is a topic that I received a great deal of feedback on during our community strategic planning event on January 31, 2015 and during our Thought Exchange online survey.

Another significant factor moving this recommendation forward is the recent decision by our neighboring districts resulting in the athletic league adjustments necessary for our ninth grade student athletes. The move to 9-12 high schools now in place at all our league schools has resulted in our ninth graders needing to be transported to the high school daily during the course of the athletic seasons. This has caused consternation for the transportation department, resulted in



lost classroom time at the end of the day for students in some junior highs and in certain sports, and in general diminishing the student attachment or affinity to their junior high school. In speaking to a variety of student focus groups over the course of the prior school year, the junior high school students involved in these athletics and activities were reflective about this topic and disappointed in the outcome.

There are also many high school clubs and activities that ninth graders in other school districts are able to participate in; e.g., forensics, language and arts clubs, etc. Our ninth graders were encouraged to be involved in these; yet, the timing of the school day and transportation challenges negated this participation for the most part. Given these factors, I concur with the Boundary Review Committee recommendation to realign our grade spans in the South Kitsap School District.

I am planning a conservative four year roll-out for all students in the district. The chart below illustrates the pacing for the plan in a chart format.

TABLE 1: FOUR YEAR PHASE-IN PLAN FOR GRADE RECONFIGURATION 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019

Year of continued study and planning:

Planning Committee for 6-8 Middle School Model

Planning Committee for 9-12 High School Model

Middle School Models and High School Models of school within a school might be looked at

Professional development of staff to meet new model needs.

Phase 1 Implementation of K-

5 grade configuration at Sunnyslope, Sidney Glen, and Hidden Creek or Burley Glenwood (pending)

Or transition Burley Glenwood to Marcus Whitman feeder group

Cedar Heights Junior High will shift to 6-8 Middle School

9th grade students in this feeder group will move to South Kitsap High School

Open enrollment option for families to choice in or out.

Phase 2 Implementation of three

more elementary schools to K-5

One more Junior High shifted to Middle School Model or

One more set of 9th grade students to SKHS

Move Explorer Academy to allow room for additional students/classrooms at SKHS site

Monitor and adjust plan based on continued evaluation and input.

Phase 3 Implementation of

remaining three elementary schools to K-5

Final Junior High shifted to Middle School Model or

Remaining 9th grade students to SKHS

Grade reconfiguration phase-in plan is complete.

Continue to monitor and adjust programming based on feedback.

We will focus on a year of study during 2015-2016 to support and provide professional development for staff on the new grade level reconfiguration plan and how to best prepare our students and families for the transition. The changes in grade configuration are not simply where students are housed, but are based on academic program excellence, curriculum and instruction, activities and relationships. As we develop future innovators, we need to be thoughtful and research based in our approach. Our instructional program structure and delivery matters.

In 2016-2017, the schools with the most urgent capacity issues (Sunnyslope, Sidney Glen, and Hidden Creek) will make the transition to K-5 elementary school (with the possibility remaining that Burley Glenwood might be considered as an alternative within enrollment dependent



parameters.) The seven remaining elementary schools, Burley Glenwood, East Port Orchard, Mullenix Ridge, Manchester, South Colby, Orchard Heights, and Olalla, will continue as a K-6 model during this year. Sixth grade students from Sunnyslope, Sidney Glen, and Hidden Creek will transition to Cedar Heights which will transition to a 6-8 Middle School model. Students in grade 9 at Cedar Heights for 2016-2017 will move to South Kitsap High School.

In 2017-2018, three additional elementary schools and one junior high will make the transition to the K-5 elementary, 6-8 middle school, and 9-12 high school model. We have not identified the schools for this phase of the plan as they will be chosen based on the feeder enrollment patterns at that time. We might also defer to the possibility that we will move the next third of the ninth grade group by way of open enrollment during this year. Again, this is very enrollment dependent and is designated as a choice point for future committee work. Explorer Academy is currently housed on the South Kitsap High School campus and will be relocated to another school to free up capacity for the additional students at the high school. This will enable us to be more financially respectful in that we will not need to spend money on more portables that we might otherwise be spending on student educational needs.

In 2018-2019, all the remaining schools will transition to the K-5, 6-8 middle school, and 9-12 high school model. It will be at this time that all students in the district will be fully integrated into the new grade level configuration model that the Boundary Review Committee recommended.

While it is not the most desirable to have a dual system in the district, I have carefully weighed this reality. I recognize the need to begin moving forward with the stated goal of reconfiguring the grade alignment in the district. I also must acknowledge the limited resources we have as a district and must remain resolutely mindful of how best to sustain deep innovative change and therefore have chosen the methodology to phase in the transition. This four year approach preserves the stability of our district and enables us to build on the strengths and traditions already present.

It is also important to note that we currently have 85 portables in use in the South Kitsap School District. This plan supports limiting the use of portables and minimizes the need to purchase more of them to place on our school sites. I believe it is the more financially responsible decision to have a conservative phased in approach that will be monitored and adjusted and that could be accelerated based on feedback and resource availability.

As a district, we have undergone significant change in the past several years and need time to thoughtfully process this significant teaching and learning structural adjustment. Staffing decisions and professional development, curriculum and activities design, student needs, facility challenges, transportation models, and changing career and college readiness dynamics, all must be taken into consideration. The transition plan is conservative and offers families the choice of open enrollment throughout the implementation.

While there will be costs associated with this transition plan, we must also weigh the costs of not moving forward to best support our students instructional needs. We must steadfastly maintain high expectations and must continue to keep high support in place for all of our children no exceptions.



COMMUNICATION AND SUPPORT

This recommendation was discussed at the Board Meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 and will be finalized at the Board Meeting on July 15, 2015. I will continue to meet with the building principals and district leadership team to discuss the recommendation, process for implementation and seek feedback on the support needs required for a smooth and effective program transition. We will maintain an open and transparent process throughout this transition time.

We will be seating two district wide committees to address the smooth implementation of this plan. One of the committees will be to address the planning and implementation of a new middle school design and philosophy for students in our district. The second grade reconfiguration committee will be to address the integration of ninth graders into the high school. There are many best practice research ideas and models worthy of review and discussion.

As we continue this process, I will keep you informed of the progress and monitor and adjust with feedback from teachers, support staff, principals, parents, students, and the community. If you have any questions, comments, concerns or ideas for me, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 360.874.7001. We are committed to transparency in all our work.

I will join Kitsap Sun reporter Chis Henry on July 16 at 7:00 p.m. for a live online discussion about the transition to a K-5 elementary, 6-8 middle school, and 9-12 high school grade configuration. Our district website will also keep up-to-date notes on the transition progress. The weekly Superintendent Blog will note progress as well and provide an interactive platform for community members. I know there will be many more questions to ponder and scenarios to discuss and so we will be preparing a FAQ (frequently asked questions) document for release later this summer based on feedback we receive in the next few weeks.

I want to thank each of you who have taken the time to process this topic with me, with the Boundary Review Committee members, and with the leadership team of the district. We recognize this shared goal can only be accomplished through a strong and collaborative partnership which includes the school, family, student and community resources. We remain committed to this collaborative partnership. We need to continue this conversation as we sustain the work to build on the traditions of this strong and proud district.

Thank you for your inspiring work with children each and every day. It matters.

2015 grade reconfiguration memo

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