As plans continue to develop for the Rundlett Middle School building project, Concord school officials have started discussions about grade configuration, specifically whether the school should be expanded to include fifth grade at its new location.
Grade configuration is a key element of the project that could impact the building location and design, but also child development and learning in the future.
In a joint committee meeting between the Concord School Board’s Instructional and Capital Facilities committees Wednesday, Rundlett Middle School principal Paulette Fitzgerald and board members began discussions about the feasibility of moving fifth grade to Rundlett along with the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
“As I was digging into this, the more excited I became about this concept,” Fitzgerald told school board members. “Yes, it would be a large school, but you make it small by how it’s set up and how it’s designed.”
The primary argument for moving fifth grade to the middle school is that fifth and sixth graders are more alike, developmentally, than fourth and fifth graders, according to Fitzgerald. Students today are hitting puberty at an earlier age, Fitzgerald said, and this would give them four years in a school with teachers who have been specifically trained to work with adolescents. It would also give them earlier exposure to the middle school’s “exploratory” classes like band and chorus, as well as career planning.
“Right now, it feels sometimes in sixth grade we’re transitioning them in for almost a year, they’re in seventh grade, then in eighth grade we are transitioning out. It feels like such a brief time to have them at this critical developmental age,” Fitzgerald said.
For the district, moving fifth graders to Rundlett would also free up more space in the elementary schools to host more programs, such as pre-K classes.
“I think you’re going to see universal pre-K coming down the pipe. One of the things we hear about constantly in New Hampshire is the lack of childcare,” Superintendent Kathleen Murphy told the board. “That would be an advantage – if fifth grade left, it would open up space in those elementaries.”
Among New Hampshire’s 76 middle schools, 44 contain grades 6 to 8, while 17 contain grades 5 to 8, according to state Department of Education data. Of the remaining schools, 13 contain grades 7 to 8, and two contain grades 4 to 8.
“A lot of times communities are making the decisions based on existing facilities as opposed to academically what’s most appropriate,” said Laura Wernick of HMFH architecture firm, who is working with the district on the project. “Every community is different and every community weighs these decisions differently and they come up with their own solutions. But there are plenty of 5 to 8 models and there are plenty of 6 to 8 models.”
One possible option for what a 5 to 8 configuration could look like in practice, according to Wernick, would be to group fifth and sixth graders in one part of the new building and seventh and eighth graders in another. With this option, each group could have their own entrance, administrative offices, eating area, outdoor area and art classrooms, but the whole school could share spaces like the gymnasium, auditorium, technology and kitchens.
“In a sense, you’re sharing an infrastructure, but most of the time you’re in school, you’re within your own physical ‘school,’” Wernick said.
Several board members said the decision whether or not to move fifth grade to the middle school should be driven by what’s best for the students, and not to achieve space for other programs in the elementary schools.
“If it turns out that’s whats best for fifth graders, that’s a windfall,” board member Gina Cannon said. “If it turns out it’s not, then we have to figure out universal pre-K but that’s a different discussion.”
Several board members said they need more information about the pros and cons of a 5 to 8 grade configuration before they can move forward. In the coming months, school board members will be seeking opinions from families, and also more information from the staff of existing 5 to 8 middle schools around New Hampshire about what works and what doesn’t work.
“As an educator, when I think of a fifth grader in a middle school or a fifth grader at the end of elementary school, that’s two very different experiences for that 10-year-old,” said board member Barb Higgins. “We need to make sure that whatever we decide for that 10-year-old ends up being the right decision.”