Middle School Students “In the Middle”

The Slice – March 2013: In Our High Schools | In Our Middle Schools | In Our Elementary Schools

How do the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) counselors track the progress of every middle school student? What if kids have never, in their three years of middle school, made an appointment to see a counselor other than for a class scheduling matter? What happens if these kids are “in the middle,” with perhaps below-average “Palo Alto” grades?

“We manage the kids and their activities in so many ways, we can be assured that no student falls through the cracks,” explains Terman Middle School Counselor Michele Chin.

She said she makes a point to connect with as many students as she can, even when students don’t ask for support. Her favorite venue is in the classroom. All middle school counselors teach special sessions in the classroom on a range of topics from social-emotional health to bullying and high school readiness. As a teacher, Chin says, she can experience her students’ learning styles and classroom demeanor first-hand, which helps to build an ongoing relationship over the entire three years.

The process of “Looping” – assigning a counselor to sixth grade and moving with them for three consecutive years – is “the greatest gift PiE could give to a middle school counselor,” according to Counselor Linda Howard of Jane Lathrop Stanford (JLS) Middle School.

“With three full time counselors, we are now able to pursue school-wide social emotional activities that change the school climate to a more positive and inclusive one,” said JLS Counselor Arvind Arya. “Having three counselors also allows us to focus more on personal counseling, enabling the counselors to be more hands on when needed, and also allows us to work on large school issues.”

If elementary school is where students learn to tie their laces, middle school is the base camp on the long academic climb to the summit. Some kids practically fly to the top, while others struggle to adjust to the changes in atmosphere along the way.

“Middle school is where some kids are meeting their first serious academic challenges,” according to Principal Katherine Baker of Terman Middle School. “This happens particularly in the transition to 7th grade,” says Baker, when students are placed into teams of approximately 100 and rotate classrooms and teachers each period. “Thanks to the Team system, information about each student is passed along efficiently and easily among team staff and teachers,” she said.

Jordan Middle School Counselor Meghan Ben explains, “A lot of what we do – in concert with the administration, the teachers, the families, and the student leadership – is to help kids make connections: with other kids, with new ideas, and new pursuits. All of it trickles down to the individual.” Adds her colleague Jeff Gielow, “Our doors are always open for students to share their experiences, which in middle school frequently include fear of failure, social mistakes, relationship miscues and problems with teachers, among others.”If elementary school is where students learn to tie their laces, middle school is the base camp on the long academic climb to the summit. Some kids practically fly to the top, while others struggle to adjust to the changes in atmosphere along the way.

“Middle school is where some kids are meeting their first serious academic challenges,” according to Principal Katherine Baker of Terman Middle School. “This happens particularly in the transition to 7th grade,” says Baker, when students are placed into teams of approximately 100 and rotate classrooms and teachers each period. “Thanks to the Team system, information about each student is passed along efficiently and easily among team staff and teachers,” she said.

Jordan Middle School Counselor Meghan Ben explains, “A lot of what we do – in concert with the administration, the teachers, the families, and the student leadership – is to help kids make connections: with other kids, with new ideas, and new pursuits. All of it trickles down to the individual.” Adds her colleague Jeff Gielow, “Our doors are always open for students to share their experiences, which in middle school frequently include fear of failure, social mistakes, relationship miscues and problems with teachers, among others.”

When Terman Drama teacher and circus performance artist Jennifer Ellington hosts the Lunchtime Circus Club, kids learn more than cartwheels and juggling. Ellington brings in her unicycles, Chinese yo-yos and even a tight rope for students to try out so they can explore a new side of themselves. Like so many enrichment specialists whose positions are underwritten by PiE, Ellington and many other electives teachers provide the opportunity for every child in PAUSD to identify their strengths, which is “particularly important for students who struggle with core academics.”

Drama is one of the courses in the 6th grade “wheel,” offered to every incoming sixth grader at all three middle schools. For some of these students, the six-week “wheel” course is the only drama they will ever take and for others it’s the start of a new passion that continues through high school and beyond. “This class gives them key skills such as public speaking, or working in small, creative teams, or just learning to trust their classmates in a new way, that will serve them for a lifetime,” Ellington said.

When Ellington arrived from the San Jose School District at the start of last year, she said the level of arts preparedness in her young students shocked her. “Most kids in this district can recognize musical notation and can use the hand signals for pitch variation. They know artists and genres. It makes it such a joy to work with them in their early adolescence because they are ready to go to new levels of creativity.”

JLS’ Howard described one mother’s appreciation for a guidance lesson she teaches on High School readiness, “Her daughter came home all excited about what electives she might like to take in high school.” In Howard’s guidance lesson, students took an “interest inventory.” All the current 7th and 8th graders who have taken this inventory have been able to recognize – often for the first time – what really sets them on fire.

If middle school student struggles can be compared to an uphill climb, PiE-funded staff and programs are proving to be the supply stations all along the way.