Moon Preps for Middle School Curriculum Changes

Middle school Principal Melissa Heasley said the most significant adjustment students will undergo at the new middle school will be adapting to the school's team-based scheduling system. 

"I think that will be the biggest challenge for fifth-graders," Heasley said. "Going from a single class to changing classes and the blocking system." 

Fifth-graders, who in the fall will enter the district's renovated middle school, will be grouped into six teams, consisting of 50 students each, for core classes. Two teachers will be assigned to each team, splitting the subjects of language arts and social studies with science and mathematics. 

Sixth-graders, meanwhile, are slated to be grouped into four teams of 75 students each with three teachers attending to each team. Fifth and sixth-graders will be housed together in the building's first floor. 

The district hosted residents Wednesday to hear a broad overview curriculum and scheduling changes slated to take place at the new building. Heasley said the Moon Area School Board is expected to vote in May on adoption of the planned curriculum changes. 

Parents moved from classroom to classroom throughout the event, hearing presentations from district teachers on curriculum and scheduling changes, including a basic look at the subject matter of courses. Parents were asked to submit questions on a card to be answered at a later time. 

Community members have expressed a variety of concerns about the district's plan to move fifth grade from elementary buildings to the middle school, ranging from the rigor of courses in the new building to potential social changes for students. 

In 2011, the district opened an 186,011-square-foot, , shuttering the former high school for the renovation. The current middle school is scheduled to be demolished next fall. 

One mother of sixth-grader, who declined to give her name, worried that the pace of the event prevented parents from asking questions directly to faculty members who were present. 

"My main reason for going was the math," she said. "There wasn't a question-and-answer portion. Whenever someone asked a question they'd get cut off." 

Math teacher Patricia Hyland said during the presentation that the adjusted scheduling will allow for more instructional time. 

Hyland said students in fifth grade will spend 132 minutes per day on mathematics and science. 

"We are going to make mathematicians," Hyland said. "If you split that down the middle it's still 26 minutes more than what we have now." 

In the new building, fifth-graders will begin taking an exploratory foreign language course, which is now reserved for sixth-graders. In the fall, both fifth and sixth graders will take the introductory course. 

Under the new system, students in eighth grade will spend a period now reserved for study hall in a writing course. 

"I think that was a concern at first, but a lot of parents are now excited about it," said school board member Gia Tatone, who attended the event. "Now that parents know that instead of a study hall, students will be in class, they're happy about it."

Where you at the event? What do you think of the planned changes? Do you still have unanswered questions? Tell us in the comments.

Correction: A previous version of this article said eighth graders will spend 132 minutes in math and science courses. The article has been revised to say that fifth graders will spend 132 minutes in math and science courses.