With the start of the 2016-2017 school year came the launch of Rohan Woods School’s Middle School Model. According to the Association for Middle Level Education, a middle school is “student-centered, promotes collaboration, is interdisciplinary focused, has flexible scheduling, provides common planning and takes a more holistic approach by focusing on emotional as well as cognitive development.”
This exciting new innovation at Rohan Woods School was created with the above descriptors in mind in an effort to continually give our students the opportunity to begin their journey into the higher expectations of their secondary school.
The model is simply this: All students in the middle school are taught by two teachers, Mrs. Broll and Ms. Mudd. Both address their individual curricular strands separately, with each teaching the information with which they have the most expertise. Through this model, students are able to navigate all of the layers of transition: procedural, social, and academic, while still operating in the safe, nurturing environment that has become their second home.
The curriculum is complementary in that teachers plan together to make sure the classroom material is in sync, and each teacher acts as a support for the other. Students who have experienced the new model are up to the challenge, citing, “The days fly by so fast! We are constantly learning, moving, and doing!”
Transition is an ongoing process. Patrick Akos, a professor of Educational Leadership and School Counseling at the University of North Carolina, states: “The biggest misconception with transition programs is thinking that once the students have entered into [the secondary school], the transition is over.”
This is the path to a successful future, for both the students of Rohan Woods School, as well as students around the globe. Through a system of collaborative learning, and through the experience of managing different teachers with various classroom styles, students are taught how to successfully navigate the myriad expectations which will greet them upon entry into their secondary school program. We know that, for these kids, the transition is just beginning. We are certain, however, that through our Middle School Model, our students can begin secondary school confident in their skills and a step ahead of their peers.
To learn more about the effectiveness, structure and philosophy of the Middle School Model, please join faculty members Mona Mudd and Stacey Broll on Tuesday, December 6th at 8:00a in Miss Mudd’s room.