Hopewell Area School District is considering implementing an “upper elementary” concept at Hopewell Memorial Junior High School next year. This would involve moving fourth-graders to the junior high building, a move that is troubling some parents.
HOPEWELL TWP. — Parents of Hopewell Area School District students were left reeling in December when administrators announced plans to transition elementary fourth-graders to the Hopewell Junior High School building next year.
The district is considering implementing an “upper elementary” concept, or a “school within a school” at the junior high. Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders would be upper elementary students, whereas seventh- and eighth-graders would remain at a junior high instructional level.
As it stands, fourth- and fifth-graders would be assigned a hallway for their respective grade levels (essentially a separate wing) in Hopewell Memorial Junior High School at 2354 Brodhead Road. The sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms would be consolidated on the building’s second floor, and fourth-graders would have class restroom breaks to help limit time mingling with “big kids.“ These students would also have a separate lunch period and daily recess.
Hopewell’s plan is part of a bigger strategy to address aging infrastructure, limited classroom space and growing kindergarten enrollment numbers – a trend the Pennsylvania Department of Education indicates will continue. There’s a lack of classroom space for growth in two of the district's three elementary schools; both Margaret Ross and Hopewell Elementary are at capacity.
At Hopewell Elementary, some students are situated in the school’s music room due to insufficient space.
“We have about 200 students projected in our kindergarten classes over the next five years,” said District Superintendent Michelle Miller. “Our junior high building can accommodate up to 1,600 people because it was once a high school, but it would never get that big. We only have about 700 students there right now, though.”
Additionally, the last significant building renovation was made more than two decades ago and many facilities need mechanical and operating system upgrades.
To address this, Hopewell Area hired Pittsburgh-based VEBH Architects to conduct a feasibility study more than a year ago. The group reviewed building conditions, developed priorities with associated costs and gave the Hopewell Area School District Board of Directors eight action plans to choose from at a special meeting in mid-December. Suggestions included student consolidation, major building updates and new construction projects.
In all but one of VEBH's proposals, the group recommended transitioning fourth-graders to Hopewell Junior High. District administrators presented the 29-page upper elementary concept to board members at a work session just last month. The board could vote on the proposal as early as Feb. 24.
If the plan is passed, approximately 150 current third-graders from all three elementary schools could expect to move at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.
This has parents asking “what’s the rush?”
The Times spoke with a number of mothers who voiced concerns about transparency and wondered if their input was truly valued.
“I’m not at ease by the timeline,” said Bethany Pistorius, the mother of two district students. “We, as parents, seem to have found out by accident. When we heard about it in December, I did not expect it to happen next year. They have yet to convince us we don't have another year to plan. I agree it could be a positive move, but there’s no time for discovery.”
Some said the jarring turnaround could be especially difficult for special needs and routine-based children who require more time to adjust to unfamiliar people and environments.
There’s still a lot to consider, including transportation, food service and how to best prepare students for the move. Ann Parker, the stepmom of a district second-grader, argued 9-year-old children should not regularly interact with older preteens.
“Even if it‘s limited, I worry about bullying and the spread of information and language,” Parker said. “Especially on the bus, the difference between 9 and 13 is huge when you’re talking about exposure.”
Miller said the district plans to seat students by zones, with youngest sitting up front and oldest sitting in the back.
Administrators are exploring a “shuttle bus stop” for students in the Raccoon and Independence townships areas at the elementary school, too, and the possibility of two separate trips.
Start times for fourth-graders would also change from 9 a.m. to 7:45 a.m, although Miller said she’s looking into whether they can stagger start times.
The state’s Department of Education does not have a way to qualify the advantages or disadvantages of a grade reconfiguration such as what the district is proposing, but Miller believes the transition would be in students’ best interest. Other schools throughout the country have taken a similar approach, and the structure would provide younger students with the “classroom feel” of an elementary setting with more exploratory opportunities, extracurricular clubs and room for academic growth, she said.
Ultimately, daily instruction would not drastically change.
“Currently the PDE certification for middle-level education is Grades 4-8, so they have even grouped instructional practices for those grades together,” Miller said. “We feel fourth-graders are upper elementary, and what our students already do is much like what we’re proposing. We’re trying to meet the developmental needs of all our kids.”
Hopewell school director Darren Newberry said the board does not consider fourth-graders to be at a junior high level – or fifth-graders, for that matter.
“We have a lack of space, and our current third-graders are the smallest class in the district,” Newberry said at a recent community meeting. “We know the incoming kindergarten class will be bigger than the outgoing class by 30 or 40 kids. While the protocol is to move them to the junior high building, that's not turning them into junior high students.”
The district has facilitated community feedback sessions in the past month, and Miller said she‘s taking those suggestions to heart.
But parents still want more time to smooth out the plan‘s rough edges.
“I am very supportive of a change,” Pistorius said. “But do it the right way.”
The next school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday in the district administration office board room at 2354 Brodhead Road. The board is expected to vote on the measure on Feb. 24 or March 9 at its regular meeting.
To see the full proposal, visit www.hopewellarea.org.
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Hopewell district plan would move fourth-graders to junior high building - The Times
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