SCOTTDALE - Construction of a new middle school in the Southmoreland School District may be years away, but Southmoreland Junior High Principal Tim Scott is not waiting around to introduce the educational concepts characteristic of a middle school.
Despite the fact that Scott now works with just the district's seventh and eighth grades, rather than the customary grades 6, 7 and 8 of a middle school, he doesn't intend to let that delay implementation of the middle school educational philosophy in the district.
"The middle school child is at a unique time in his life, and they have unique needs," Scott told Southmoreland school directors Thursday.
Those needs revolve around a variety of physical, intellectual, emotional and social changes being experienced by middle school-aged children, according to a handout provided by Scott.
As an example, middle school students often seek increased independence while tending to be very self-conscious and sensitive compared to their younger or older counterparts, and they have a strong need for peer approval. They also tend to display a high amount of energy, thus appreciating more active rather than passive learning experiences.
Because of these and the other needs of the middle school-aged student, Scott said, "we're committed to acting more like a middle school no matter what we do" in terms of new buildings.
The hallmark of his plan, Scott said, is to develop interdisciplinary core groups or teams of teachers that will work with the same group of students. The idea is for members of those teaching teams to work together to plan learning experiences that will integrate the varied skills and educational contents.
By developing the team-teaching concept, Scott said, "We're putting more people in a better position to try to help a child."
To accomplish that goal, Scott said it is important that a schedule be developed where all members of the teaching team be available at the same time during the teaching day.
"The way we're scheduled now, we're scheduled like a high school," Scott said. "Teachers rarely have an opportunity to discuss student needs or curriculum concerns."
While Scott acknowledged a major overhaul of the school's schedule is a daunting task, he said he believes it is worth it, and he told the board the faculty is enthusiastic.
"Our strength is our smallness," Scott said, noting the current junior high school has only 26 teachers and 400 students.
Scott's plans also received a positive reaction from district Superintendent John Halfhill, who told the board, "I expect a lot of big things to come out of the effort they've put forth."
