Align North Hills Ninth Grade with High School But Do it Slowly, Committees Say

The should continue to explore the idea of reconfiguring the ninth grade classes to fit in more with the higher grades, according to community feedback the district collected. 

School principals and about two dozen members of committees formed earlier this month gathered Tuesday at the  to review the comments and suggestions made by teachers and parents on the idea of moving the ninth grade classes to the high school. 

"Is this a good idea?" asked Senior High Principal John Kreider.

He said the consensus, which will be presented to the school board in December, is that there are many benefits to aligning the ninth grade more with grades 10, 11 and 12, but that any physical move should be done slowly, possibly in phases that could take up to two years. 

The high school has the capacity for 1,687 students, but the student enrollment for the 2011-2012 school year is 1,075. The district has an enrollment of about 350 ninth-graders who now share a building with grades seven and eight — though they occasionally attend classes at the high school and are part of the high school according to students' transcripts. 

"The division between the two buildings creates a sense of disconnect," said Kreider, who along with his colleagues,

A move, according to the committees' feedback, would allow grades seven and eight to operate on their own schedule, providing opportunities for increased instructional time and more time for club activities at the end of the day. 

Ninth graders would likely see benefits in attention to and opportunities for college preparation, both in curriculum changes and in being close to their older peers, according to the committee reports. 

In addition, it is likely that class sizes could be reduced and/or classes could be added for the high school grades, Kreider said. 

"It's like an insurance policy. I have more people to pool from to teach classes," he said. 

As for the cons, members of the committees said they were most concerned with moving too fast and upsetting programs that were working well. Members suggested phasing in a transition, possibly separating the ninth grade from seven and eight on paper one year and physically moving them into the same building in the second. 

Concerns were also raised about the arts programs, particularly the junior high musical, which relies on ninth grade talent. In response, Kreider said there was no reason that structure would need to change, that the musical could continue to include the ninth grade.

"There's definitely some benefits," said Ed Vesely, who has a daughter in the 11th grade and said he was skeptical of the idea at first. "It seems like this is very thought-out." 

Still, "I'm not ready to leap on board and say let's move everything," he said. 

Annette Nolish said she is in the same camp. 

"I think they're being very wise in talking about the opportunities and keeping what is working well," she said. "There are some good ideas. I liked some of the comments about phasing in and transitioning." 

** For those who were unable to attend the Oct. 24 informational session on the move, Senior High Principal John Kreider made his presentation available online: Click here for Part I of the presentation. Click here for Part II. ** 

How do you feel now about the move? Have your thoughts changed since the initial proposal? Tell us in the comments.