Fifth grade gets makeover Scholastic 'houses' will group students in small learning communities at Lounsberry Hollow Middle School

VERNON — Although Sheetrock and spackle aren’t necessary for this project, the Vernon Township School District is currently in the final stages of building “scholastic houses” for the nearly 300 fifth-graders who are about to arrive at Lounsberry Hollow Middle School on Sept. 6.
In an effort to better transition students to the fifth-grade experience, the district has essentially established a school-within-a-school for the group of incoming youngsters.
Divided into three houses, students will be members of small learning communities that will foster shared experiences. Each team will travel as a cohort where students will receive extended and integrated instruction in the four core academic areas. Students will have a 132-minute integrated humanities block for language arts and social studies instruction and equal time for their math and science block. Instruction in special areas such as art, Spanish, music and digital literacy, along with health and physical education, will help make up part of their balanced experience.

Focus on growth

“My colleagues and I, along with the faculty, have spent a great deal of time planning and preparing this new house model,” according to Dr. Stew Stumper, principal of Lounsberry Hollow Middle School. “In addition to reaping the academic benefits of the new model, we’re confident that the structure will help facilitate social and emotional growth for our students during their very important middle school years.”

Integrated school career

Part of the mission behind the development of the houses was to ensure that the same programs and methodologies that are in place for Vernon students at the kindergarten through fourth-grade level are bridged without interruption to students in fifth grade. To help build this bridge, the district has assigned a balance of teachers to the new houses, some of whom have experience in fourth grade.
“We wanted to ensure that the faculty assigned to our fifth graders would hit the ground running,” said Vernon's Superintendent of Schools, Dr. John B. Alfieri. “I’m sure we have in place a mixture of teachers who have the traits and talents to actualize the vision of the structure.”

Combatting 'middle school slump'

These sentiments, and the theories behind them, were echoed by Dr. Pauline Anderson, principal of Walnut Ridge Primary School. Anderson’s dissertation focused on school-to-school transitions and grade-level configurations. In fact, part of her research included the finding that teacher familiarity with the knowledge students are bringing to the new grade level can better determine the starting place for instruction.
Districts across the nation are frequently faced with what’s often called “the middle school slump,” Vernon's administrators said. In a study published by the Rand Corporation, the “middle school slump” is usually marked by a dramatic drop in achievement. “Self-esteem takes a beating, kids lose focus, and they disengage from learning.”
“It’s our hope and expectation that the house model will combat this,” Stumper said. “Teachers will have common planning time, which will help set common expectations for student homework, their in class engagement and their overall scholastic achievement. There will be a team of people who really get to know each individual child.”