The Thawing spring snow crunched beneath my shoes, as I re-entered my former stomping grounds: The Community School Middle School. Having spent my 8th grade with Jason and Dana, I smiled as I walked up to the familiar red and yellow facacde. Looking into the double doors, I stopped. Yvonne's familiar cubicle was gone! The place I had ordered so many lunches, replaced with a couple couches; the room felt empty.
It was then I realized: Just like the High School, the middle school was undergoing crucial changes the likes of which I, and most of my High School students, had no understanding of.
The biggest change affecting the Middle School had nothing to do with Architecture. Similar to the Advisor Program in the Upper school, The Middle School had created its own Advisor Program.
Advisors help the students to form a more personal connection to a member of the faculty. According to Middle School Director Ben Pettit, “The Advisors are charged with monitoring social and academic concerns of students”. So far, the Advisor Program has been a success, al-ts to interact with a single member of the faculty over an extended period of time. According to one Middle School student who wished to remain anonymous, the Advisor Program has helped to improve academic skills, such as, “keeping on track with work and staying organized. After I go to Advisor, I feel more confident for the rest of the day”. 7th Grade Advisor, and Middle School art teacher, Zoey Pierce has pegged it as, “beneficial for the students as well as the Advisor”. According to her, it also provides a time to talk about such issues as, “family life, how to deal with the rising workload, anger, stress, and peer issues”. With the workload placed on Upper school students, it is hard to remember the stress that is placed on Middle Schoolers by school. “Its an interesting time in their life.. the students evolve”. According to many students, Advisor is a time for unwinding; where students can play games, and socialize with their friends. Out of the 10 Middle School students I interviewed, all of them supported the Advisor Program. Middle School can be a hard time on one's life, especially without outside help.
Another change in the Middle School centers around idea of an integrated curriculum. According to Middle School director, Ben Pettit, both grades feature units focused on "integrated themes". The 8th grade, for example, did an entire unit encompassing science, math, english, and history, based around the subject of food. The unit, best remembered for its memorable chicken Program, required students to raise, then process and eat 16 chickens. "I've hunted and killed birds and deer before, but this was different", says Reed. The Program came under flak from animal rights activists, but was supported by many members of the 8th grade class for its hands-on aspects, such as requiring students to design and build their own greenhouse and chicken coop, using skills they had learned in math and science.
According to Math and Science teacher, Scott Runkel, "food is a great issue because everybody can relate to it; we all eat. It connects to the environment because of food production; it connects to human health health care". this new integrated style of teaching is supported by many members of the faculty because of the quantity, quality, and diversity of connections students make to the curriculum. 8th grade humanities teacher, Naomi Goldberg, commented, "the more connections students can make with a topic the better the students remember it and the more they are able to use it".
By enhancing the student-school bonds, the middle school has increased its efficacy in helping the teenagers of today, 'evolve' into the adults of tomorrow. By enhancing the personal aspect that the community school excels at by means of the advisor program, and creating educated, self motivated, and enthusiastic students by way of integrated curriculums, the TCS middle school has taken bold steps into the future of education.