When the bell rings, a crowd of students push through a door with specific instructions to stay away. High school students stroll to the middle school, and middle school students power walk to their high school classes. This ebb and flow is only possible because of the building that the two schools share, and the unnoticed interconnection of all Central Kitsap students.
At the end of each school year, middle school students who are advanced in their math skills or who are wishing to get ahead in their language credits may opt to cross the barrier and take a class at the high school. For many students, this is frightening. Having to enter a new building, meet new teachers, make new friends, and take advanced classes adds a lot of stress to the already building plate of rising eighth graders.
“When the year started, I was scared because I didn’t think I could have any friends,” Laila Alagba-Green, eighth grader at CKMS, said. “But [I] actually had some friends in my classes. I have Spanish and Geometry, but it wasn’t actually that bad.”
Other students may find the possibility of getting a head start into their high school career exciting. Taking advanced classes may be what some students need to reach their academic level, and the stress of being in a new place in the eighth grade can help alleviate possible stress later down the line.
“It’s fun because you get to experience a little part of the high school,” Katelyn Smith, an eighth grader who is currently enrolled in a high school Spanish class, said.
Because most high school classes that accept younger students are for math and world languages, middle schoolers are usually contained to the third floor. One Spanish teacher, Shannon Blanusa, who teaches mainly Spanish I, with quite a few middle school students enrolled in her classes.
“Usually, the middle school students are really energetic,” Blanusa said. “They’re really pretty good about following directions, and they’re good students, so it’s a pleasure to have them in class.”
Taking advantage of the opportunity to walk across the hallway into a higher level of learning is something that makes Central Kitsap High School special, as students at Ridgetop Middle School who want to take more advanced classes might have to take them online. The opportunity offered by the connected schools is quite beneficial to students, as being two years ahead in math allows students to take AP Calculus AB and BC, while being just one year ahead in Spanish gives students in AP Spanish an advantage.
“It just gives you more time to learn the language,” Blanusa said.
Of course, like anything, taking advanced classes can have downsides. For one, it’s quite a bit of a longer walk. Students have to walk from their first class, up to the third floor, and then across to their next class.
“My Spanish is a little bit farther, so I’m late to fifth period all the time,” Alagba-Green said.
Another downside is the chance that students will struggle and not be quite ready for the harder classes. High school teachers have higher expectations for their students, including behavior, attention, scores, and amount of homework to complete.
“If I was just teaching full middle schoolers, I would maybe teach just a little bit different,” Blanusa said. “I wouldn’t push them as much. I think it’s harder for them, because at the middle school they don’t always push them very much, and it’s like, ‘Sorry, this is a high school class. We have homework. You’re expected to do this.’ So that’s a bit of training for the middle schoolers that they might not be used to.”
All in all, taking classes at the middle school may be just what is right for one student, but might be completely wrong for another. It is important to consider the benefits and risks, and how this might affect any certain student. But if a student is ready for the high school, the high school is ready for the student.
