Parents, teachers and administrators at Chapman Elementary
School are quietly considering making a radical academic
change by taking a giant step backward.
At a Nov. 10 school site council meeting, community
members and Chapman staff publicly broached the issue
of adding sixth, seventh and eighth grades to the school.
Like most of the city's elementaries, the Northwest
Portland school ends at fifth grade.
"It's a very basic discussion," says Chapman principal
Bob McAllister. "We're just investigating the possibilities."
McAllister says much of the
impetus for examining a change at Chapman comes from
parents concerned about overcrowding at West Sylvan
middle school, where many Chapman students go. But the
preliminary talks at Chapman could mark a major move
toward addressing what parents and educators see as
a giant problem--the relatively poor academic performance
at middle schools and the high incidence of disciplinary
and other behavioral issues.
Kids move into middle schools at an awkward time, when
hormones are raging and self-consciousness is setting
in. Students say it's tough going from fifth grade,
where they've spent six years at smaller schools with
most of the same kids, to much larger buildings where
they're lumped in with kids they don't know.
Data released by the district earlier this year highlight
some of the problems. In a survey of 400 Portland Public
School parents, respondents expressed relatively high
levels of concern with middle schools in areas ranging
from the availability of computers to community support
and communication with parents.
In addition, in 1997-98 middle schools had twice as
many reported disciplinary referrals per student as
high schools did, according to district statistics,
and about nine times the rate of elementary schools.
Finally, Portland middle-school students showed worse
results on state standardized tests last year than did
local elementary or high-school students. For instance,
Portland fifth- and 10th-graders outperformed the state
average on the mathematics tests, while eighth-graders
did worse than their peers. Portland eighth-graders
also performed relatively poorly on reading and writing
exams.
Combining middle and elementary schools could also
provide other benefits. Last year's performance audit
and several task forces have arrived at the same conclusion:
The district owns too many underutilitized buildings.
Simply shutting down schools to save money has proven
politically unpalatable, but recombining elementary
and middle schools holds out the prospect of improving
education while also saving money on maintenance, utilities
and administration. "It would offer facilities solutions,"
says school board member Marc Abrams, a Chapman parent
who is the odds-on favorite to replace Ron Saxton as
school board chairman in January.
The move away from K-8 schools in Portland came in
the mid-70s as part of a national movement aimed at
improving the educational climate for early adolescents,
says Peter Hamilton, the director of the district's
middle schools. In many places that meant adding sixth
grades to junior highs; in Portland, it meant splitting
up K-8.
Superintendent Ben Canada first raised the idea of
reviewing the current setup in an address to the City
Club in January, and his words fell on receptive ears.
Hamilton says other schools have expressed informal
interest in exploring the option, but until the district's
strategic planning is finished he doesn't expect much
progress.
At Chapman, McAllister plans to poll teachers before
proceeding further. He is cautious, because adding upper
grades to Chapman might entail expensive renovations.
Still, McAllister says parents are excited. "It's hard
to know how the district would respond," he says, "but
I do know that people are very interested."
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Willamette Week | originally
published November 23,
1999
