White Plains Creates Sixth Grade Campus
The White Plains school district is changing how it approaches middle school and last Thursday, parents and students got a pretty clear idea of what’s in store for next year.
With all students in 5th grade converging to the Eastview School on Main St. for an all-6th grade campus, district officials detailed their plan Thursday night in front of more than 200 people inside Eastview middle school. Superintendent of schools Christopher Clout said the 6th grade redesign isn’t drastic but will still provide more support for students transitioning from elementary school.
“Having a sixth grade school is different,” Clout said. “We think it’s going to be more supportive of kids, we think it’s going to allow kids to make a calmer transition in a more focused way and we think in the long run it bodes well for their future success.”
One major aspect the district concentrated on is the effort to give students a core group of fellow students, faculty and staff they’ll know from the first day they start classes next year. Clout, who is resigning from his position in White Plains at the end of the school year to take the same one in Tarrytown, wants to “personalize the school experience.”
At Eastview, 6th graders will be placed into four different teams of 100 students. Each group will have two lunch periods, common planning time, advanced English and language and math courses, and a period dedicated to the Connections Program.
The Connection Program will have one adult for every 12-15 students. With that small-group setting, the district hopes students can establish short and long-term goals, have students grow emotionally and socially and be able to participate in school and community efforts.
“The transition into 6th grade is really critical and we feel it’s a time that kids really need to be able to connect with their school and feel like they have somebody to talk to,” school board member Sheryl Brady said of the program.
A 7th and 8th grade redesign presentation was given on Monday following press time.
The two meetings also gave parents more concrete certainty about what to expect for next year, especially with the resignation of a superintendent and also the resignation of Highlands building principal Jonathan Brown. (Eastview principal, Joseph Cloherty, dismissed any possibility he was leaving after the school year during Thursday’s presentation.)
“I think it highlights the fact that this isn’t about me as an individual,” Clout said. “This is a programmatic shift. It’s a shift among ideas and research and we have a very strong team that will implement it.”
Clout also said the school board will appoint a new Highlands school principal “very soon for next year.”
One question raised consistently throughout the night was the upcoming construction at Eastview. Clout said parents don’t need to worry about their children facing any health dangers and he thinks the construction won’t be a major distraction for students.
The construction, much of it focusing on the roof, will start over the summer and go right into the start of the school year in September.
