According to this article in The Examiner, some districts are implementing a twist on the old one-room school house: combining middle school and high school in one building.
The 6-12 model has its pluses and minuses. The pluses for urban schools facing high drop-out rates: getting kids in the same building as high schoolers means more time for teachers and staff to be communicating with kids an parents before they show up as freshmen and lends itself to a prolonged emphasis on the importance of staying in school. The pluses for kids in suburban settings: having easy accessibility to higher-level classes for middle school students.
Kids start developing troubling habits–low attendance, lagging behind in school work–as early as the sixth grade. The theory is that lumping sixth graders with seniors gives them some role models as well as exposure to teachers who are offering courses that challenge and engage them. A kid might sit through seventh grade science if she sees her older schoolmates loving Anatomy & Physiology class as juniors. The big brother/little brother blend can also provide a welcome sense of “family” in the school setting.
The downside? Well, plenty of parents worry about exposing their impressionable young sixth graders to older students who might be a bad influence–smoking, drugs, sex, gangs, the usual.
That can be a danger, no doubt, but blended schools divide the classes and usually keep the middle school kids on a separate floor or wing of the building. I guess the challenge is keeping them close but not TOO close.
I’m a fan of blending–using different techniques, tech tools, teachers, venues, and yes, mixing ages. Giving older students an opportunity to mentor younger ones can be an incredibly powerful and uplifting experience for all involved.
I’m not one of those parents who tries to protect my kids from bad influences. There are PLENTY of bad influences around, and my approach has always been to help my kids get savvy and strong instead of keeping them in a bubble. I’m guessing the seventh graders in a blended 6-12 situation have a chance to get savvy and strong earlier than they ever would if they showed up at the high school as a wide-eyed freshman without any exposure to bad juju.
As long as blended schools have a strong support system for the younger students and openly address the “big kid” issues that they see in the same building, this mix can work very well for both middle schoolers and high schoolers.
Whenever we can find ways to get kids connecting with those who are different–and this includes ages–it can be a fantastic opportunity for learning and growth. We need our kids to be comfortable with those who are different, who have different ideas and interests, in order to enhance their creativity and encourage innovation.
