New District Policy May Halt Middle Schoolers' Acceleration

8th grader Rhianna Farris works on her French 2 classwork (Photo Credit: Remi Langwerwoski)

Being a Junior Jet gives students the unique opportunity of being on the same campus as high schoolers, and many middle schoolers take advantage of the opportunity to accelerate their learning.

Since 2013, middle schoolers were able to skip two years ahead in math. However, this school year, many families were confused when 7th grade students were placed in Math 7 instead of Algebra 1. This was due to a change in district board policy noting that 7th graders could no longer take Algebra 1.

“In the past, we’ve had 7th graders accelerate to Algebra 1,” said JJ counselor Ms. Doan. “However, board policy has changed, and some families are not used to [it] or haven't been exposed to the new policy [yet]. We are respecting the board policy and updating our course catalog to help families have a better understanding of when acceleration for math is possible. 7th graders should be in Math 7 to get all the fundamentals and foundational math. Then, in 8th grade, they can accelerate.”

The new policy, however, doesn’t affect middle school students' ability to take a language class early on. Some students do so to get credits sooner, and others like the challenge of learning with older high schoolers.

“I wanted to get more credits earlier so I can have more opportunities to take different high school classes later,'' said Rhianna Farris, an 8th grader. Being a Junior Jet allowed Farris to take French starting in 7th grade. “It has prepared me to stay organized and gain experience on what high school will be like for the future so that I’m prepared,” she said.

Madame Krautler has been teaching French at Encinal for 4 years and has enjoyed the middle schoolers' presence in her classroom.

“They’re silly and also eager to learn… teaching French is like teaching kindergarteners again but in a different language and it's a lot of fun,” explained Krautler.

Taking an accelerated course is not an easy task, but some students are eager to advance their learning. It is typically beneficial in the long run, but many students are nervous about the challenges of high school classes. Taking classes with high schoolers can be daunting for 6th-8th graders.

“At first I didn’t want to [take accelerated math], but my dad encouraged me to, and I don’t regret it,” Freshman Iris Ko said. “Being in a class with different aged students, compared to my other classes with mostly freshmen, is a bit different but not a challenge.”

Remi Langwerwoski contributed to this article.