School mixer? Increasing number of Iowa districts find arrangement works well, saves money

WILLIAMSBURG - Jess Miller rarely crosses paths with the upperclassmen at Williamsburg Junior/Senior High School. If she does, it's not a big deal.

“They don't even look at you,” the 12-year-old Jess said.

The seventh grader is one of more than 600 students at the school that has students in grades 7 through 12. Like her classmates, she thinks nothing of the arrangement.

“The first week was kind of different, but then you get used to it,” she said.

The students in Independence may have to get used to it, too. The Independence school board tonight is expected to vote on a proposal to close East Elementary School and move the district's middle school students to the high school - one of several cuts the cash-strapped district is considering.

Closing the elementary school would save the district more than $225,000 a year.

Some parents spoke against the proposal at public hearings earlier this month, saying they don't want their middle school students exposed to high school behavior.

“It's not ideal,” Superintendent Devin Embray said at the board's Jan. 11 work session. “I have an eighth grader next year, and I have as many questions as any parent.”

Iowa last year had 104 public school districts with combined middle schools and high schools, an increase from 12 such organizational structures in 1998-99.

The 7-12 schools are most common in rural districts because of the cost savings. A combined middle and high school means one less building to maintain. Staffers and resources like libraries also can serve double duty.

“Financially, it makes sense,” said Nick Nordheim, a science teacher at Williamsburg. “The younger students have access to tools that were previously designated for high school use.”

Educators said students benefit from having one fewer transition. By the time they are in high school, they know the building, the teachers and the curriculum.

The presence of both older and younger classmates also has a positive impact. The middle school students look at the high schoolers as role models - if the students mix at all.

Most 7-12 buildings are designed to separate middle and high school students. Williamsburg's middle school students' halls and cafeteria, for example, are separate from the high school area.

“A 7-12 building has to operate as a junior high and high school,” said Lynell O'Connor, Williamsburg's principal. “There has to be separate programs.”

The school's shared spaces - the gym, library and technology center - are scheduled so that they aren't in use by middle and high school students at the same time. When there's an overlap, adult supervision is increased.

Reports of fights between middle and high school students are few - if any.

“I, personally, have never had an incident where a junior high kid comes in and says an older kid has bothered them,” said Lori Wells-Adamson, Williamsburg's fifth through eighth grade guidance counselor.

Wells-Adamson teaches a transitional curriculum with the district's sixth graders in preparation for their move to the high school. The students tour the building, eat lunch in the cafeteria and attend classes before their seventh grade year.

Parents tour the facility, too.

“They feel better when they see the areas that are just for the junior high,” Wells-Adamson said.

O'Connor has been in contact with Jennifer Sornson, Independence High School's principal, giving advice about the 7-12 arrangement. Independence board members have said they want to make a decision soon so staffers have time to prepare students for a transition, if necessary.

“It gets easier every year,” Williamsburg eighth grader John Armstrong, 14, said. “It's kind of fun. You know more people and have more friends.”