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Minneapolis plan means fewer middle schools, more K-8 schools
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
November 24, 2004

Ramsey seventh and eighth grade students rehearse with the school's Chamber Strings Orchestra. (MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)

The Minneapolis school district is on the verge of phasing out more of its middle schools and placing those students in the same buildings with elementary grade children. Kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools are rare in Minnesota, but they're dominating the landscape in Minneapolis. District officials say the K-8 configuration is a a popular choice among many parents. But others question the benefits of mixing younger and older kids.

Minneapolis, Minn. — There's a wide range of learning going on at Ramsey International Fine Arts magnet school in south Minneapolis. In a kindergarten classroom, students listen closely as teacher Jessica Carroll explains a math game.

On the other side the of the school, seventh and eighth grade students in the chamber strings orchestra rehearse a piece of music.

Ramsey was originally built in the 1930s as a junior high school. Today it serves 900 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Principal Steve Norlin-Weaver says the K-8 configuration isn't very common outside of Minneapolis. Most districts keep kindergarten through fifth grade in elementary schools and sixth through eighth grade in middle schools. Norlin-Weaver says K-8 has advantages over 6-8.

"We know our kids really well, because they start seeing them as they come up," Nolin-Weaver said. "And because of the family thing, our middle school teachers know that so and so in seventh grade has little siblings fourth grade and in first grade and maybe gets to meet them a little bit."

	Ramsey kindergarten.

Parents also like the idea of elementary and middle students in the same building.

"I think the stability is better for the kids to not be switching to a separate middle school" said Margot McKinney, the mother of a fourth- and eighth-grader at Ramsey. "That's just my experience with it."

Minneapolis school district officials are counting on that kind of experience to keep students enrolled and perhaps attract more families to their schools. The school board is considering a plan to close 19 schools over the next three years due to declining enrollment. Two existing middle schools would shut down, three others would switch to K-8. Minneapolis already has more than 20 K-8 schools. School Board Chairwoman Sharron Henry-Blythe says it's a big selling point for a district trying to stay competitive.

	Steve Norlin-Weaver

"All of the questionnaires and information gathering that the district over many years, I mean there's tons of information the district has collected from families, there is a much stronger preference from families for K-8 than there is for 6-8," Henry-Blythe said.

Some Minneapolis parents say they like K-8 schools because there are fewer students in each grade. But those numbers often mean a shorter menu of elective classes than are available in larger middle schools. Laura McQuisten, who lives in Minneapolis and teaches middle school in Richfield, says she doesn't want her child attending a K-8 school.

"Extra curriculars are sometimes gone, also things like tech classes, home economics," said McQuisten. "Classes like that are often cut away in a K-8 setting. And I think those are incredibly important exploratory things for kids who are in 6th to 8th grade as they prepare to move on to the high school."

McQuisten shared her views during a recent public hearing on the school closing plan. School board members also heard concerns about the social implications of K-8 schools. Bill English of the Coalition of Black Churches says many parents are fearful of mixing age groups.

"The gang culture now starts at age 12 and up," English said. "There is way too much sexual activity among today's early teens that should preclude mixing them with much younger children who often see the older ones as role models and emulate their behavior both positive and negative."

Minneapolis school leaders say the disappearance of middle school buildings does not diminish their commitment to the middle grades. They say the district approved a middle school reform strategy six years ago, and that philosophy toward instruction and services is still in place.

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