Central Tree Middle School - Post Occupancy Evaluation
Introduction & Methodology

 

Preface & Executive Summary	Section 3e Space-Specific Evaluation
Section 1 & 2 Introduction & Methodology	Section 3f Space Specific Evaluation 2
Section 3a Overview	Section 4a The Exemplary Middle School
Section 3b Summary Chart	Section 4b Curriculum Goals & Implications
Section 3c Building Wide Evaluation	Appendix
Section 3d Building Wide Evaluation 2

 

Program | POE | Site | 1st Floor Plan | 2nd Floor Plan | Photos

 

 

Introduction

 

“Young people undergo more rapid and profound personal changes during the years between 10 and 15 than at any other period of their lives.”[1]

 

1.0 Introduction

 

Children have been taught in one-room school houses for centuries, with little attention paid to the environmental quality of their school building; in many places around the world, this continues to be the case.   Many of these children receive an adequate education regardless of the buildings in which they are taught.  It is self evident that the ideal middle school is far more dependent on the quality and inspiration of the teachers and administrators, than that of the building.  The question is, how can the building support educators in their efforts to provide the most appropriate learning environment for their students ?  Obviously, the building can neither do the teaching for the teachers, nor the learning for the students, it can, however, in the best case facilitate the process, and, in the worst case hinder it.

 

 

1.1.1. Definition of a Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE)

 

A Post-Occupancy Evaluation is an assessment of a building’s performance undertaken by taking into account specific criteria and involves soliciting input from the building’s users. That is, is the building working for those who use it?  Does the building function in ways it was intended to?  The information gathered by conducting a POE is utilized in a number of ways, but is primarily intended to provide feedback to planners and architects of buildings so that lessons may be learned both from the successful and unsuccessful elements of a building’s design.

 

1.1.2. Purpose of the Post-Occupancy Evaluation

 

This study was prepared for the architectural office of HMFH, Inc. who designed the building under evaluation.   It was their intent to reflect on the product of their design (e.g. the school building) in order to develop generalizable lessons regarding “best practice.”   Such a process can result in valuable insight and provide guidance to future creations.    

 

More specifically, this POE was conducted in order to draw conclusions regarding the design of middle schools from evaluating the Central Tree Middle School building, located in Rutland, Massachusetts.   The main objectives of  the  Post-Occupancy Evaluation were:

 

1. To determine whether or not specific design decisions resulted in supporting a particular set of pedagogical goals in the new Central Tree Middle School.

 

2. To contribute to the evolving definition of the ideal middle school building.

 

3. To prepare a document which will be excerpted for marketing purposes.  

 

It is difficult to make general recommendations to inform the design of future buildings based on the performance of one building.  For this reason,  conclusions were compared with a brief review of relevant literature.  Also, recommendations incorporated the collective wisdom of educators involved in the study and their experiences with other educational settings.

 

1.1.3. Focus of the Post-Occupancy Evaluation 

 

Central Tree Middle School was chosen for evaluation because it embodies state of the art  thinking about middle school education.    The primary focus of the POE was to determine to what extent the design of the building supports this philosophy and methods of teaching .  By focusing on the relationship between the pedagogical goals and the architecture of the building, the evaluation  resulted in a set of design principles.  These then form the basis for defining the ideal design of a middle school building.

 

The POE studied the relationship between design features and patterns of practice in terms of both   teachers and students use.  Issues related to building performance and user satisfaction were also addressed.  More specifically, the POE :

 

·         Involved an articulation of the educational goals aspired to by the school and then evaluated the building in terms of whether or not these were supported by the design.

 

·         Examined issues related to general building performance (i.e. adequacy of storage, existence of underutilized or overcrowded spaces, adequacy of circulation).

 

·         Evaluated the adequacy of space (quantitative, such as accommodates necessary seating) and the appropriateness of space (qualitative, such as supports activities and desired levels of   interaction).

 

·         Determined the level of satisfaction as perceived by the users of the school.  That is, which aspects of the design work well (or do not), and for whom, and why ? For example,

 

            Do teachers feel supported in their roles by the design of the building ?

            Do students feel the physical environment supports the tasks they must perform ?

 

·         Examined issues related to the perceived attractiveness, meaning, and image related to the school’s appearance.

 

 

           

Central Tree Middle School was selected for study because it’s mission is to deliver state-of-the-art middle school education and was designed to embody these pedagogical goals.  The objective of the study is to further clarify and make explicit the design implications of this philosophy by examining the relationship between the building and its users.

 

The central research questions were as follows:

 

            What is the ideal middle school building ? and

            How does Central Tree Middle School exemplify this ideal and where does it fall short ?

 

The evaluation undertaken to respond to this questions was accomplished by applying a number of research methods.  These were:

 

·         Literature Review.  Brief literature review of current thinking regarding middle school philosophy

 

·         Review of Central Tree mission and approach.  Review of Central Tree particular application of middle school concepts, practices, and policies.

 

·         User Response.  Solicitation of input from the building’s users regarding their perceptions of the fit between the middle school agenda and their experiences teaching and learning in the building’s spaces.  This was accomplished by:

           

              Questionnaire.  Teacher Questionnaire Survey (of the 25 teachers, 72% (18) completed questionnaires)

              Interviews.  Structured and informal individual interviews with teachers, administrators, and students. The following individuals were interviewed:

            Principal

            Assistant Principal

            Guidance Counselor

            Senior Custodian

            Librarian

            Gym Teacher

            Art Teacher

            Tech Ed Teacher

            two- 5th grade teachers

 

        Focus Group.  Focus group discussion with group of 8th grade students

        Video-taped tour.  Students were asked to create a video-taped “tour” of their school focusing on those aspects of the school that were important to them

        Staff Meeting.  Discussion at staff meeting with all staff members: clarification of questionnaire survey results

 

·         Observation.  Direct observation of space and building usage supplemented user input (included photography of space usage, informal behavior mapping).

 

·         Walk-through evaluations.  “Guided tour” conducted separately  with architect, senior custodian, group of 8th grade students

 

·         Archival and document evaluation, including review of :

            - middle school model, middle school curriculum

            - written descriptions of goals of school design

            - as-built drawings

            - middle school stats - population, etc.

            - review of existing documentation regarding the school building and program

 

Note: It was decided that the POE would not focus on the school’s outdoor spaces because due to budget constraints and site difficulties, the site surrounding the building has not yet been fully developed.

 

 

 

This report is organized in four chapters, this Introduction being the first. 

 

Chapter 2: The Middle School provides an overview of the middle school model of education and its history, and includes a discussion of the National Middle School Association’s definition of the ideal middle school and a list of components considered key to the curriculum.  This is followed by a description of Central Tree Middle School, its educational mission and specific approach, as well as a brief description of the building. 

Chapter 3: The Evaluation provides an overview of the building evaluation, a summary of the user response to questionnaire surveys and interview questions , followed by a detailed space-by-space evaluation of the school building.  These evaluation is based on questionnaire survey responses, interviews of teachers, administrators, and students, and is supplemented  by observation of space usage.  User response, both positive and negative, is highlighted; representative quotes are provided.

 

Chapter 4: The Definition of the Ideal Middle School Building begins with a summary of the National Middle School Association’ curriculum guidelines for the exemplary middle .  This is  followed by a discussion of issues found to be critical to the design of Central Tree Middle School.  Finally, the middle school philosophy is encapsulated in a series of eight curriculum goals.  For each of these, a set of environmental goals -- representing ways in which a building can support the curriculum, and based on the evaluation of CTMS -- are put forth. These form the working definition of the ideal middle school building.

 

The Middle School

 

“the purpose and functions of the exemplary middle schools center on the intellectual, social, emotional, moral, and physical developmental needs of young adolescents.  Within a few years, young adolescents undergo rapid physical growth, changes in moral reasoning, the onset of abstract thinking, and introduction to a range of social pressures, including sex, drugs, and violence.  Simultaneously, the lifelong developmental tasks of forming a personal identity or self-concept, acquiring social skills, gaining autonomy, and developing character and a set of values are begun. Exemplary middle level programs foster appropriate programs, policies, and practices that foster the development of these tasks in positive ways.”[2]

 

2.0 The Middle School

 

The following chapter provides a brief overview of the middle school model and a description of Central Tree Middle School, the object of this study.

 

 

2.1.1. Trends in Middle School Education

 

Educational philosophies are continuously changing, shifting, and evolving.  One of the most dramatic changes in the delivery of this country’s education has been that of teaching young adolescents.  Over the last two decades in particular there has been a significant shift from junior high settings to middle school settings driven by very specific philosophy regarding middle level learners.

 

Growing numbers of at risk young people as well as a recognition of the important opportunity for intervention the stage of young adolescence represents, has spurred on a movement to reform teaching in the middle grades.   An understanding of the specific needs of the young adolescent as being distinct from both the younger and the older child, underlies this new philosophy.  The reformers strongly believe that “not meeting these needs often results in alienation from school, loss of general self-esteem and a sense of belonging, and destructive methods of coping, including delinquency and drugs.”[3]

 

The middle school  -- which  almost always houses grades 6-8, and frequently also includes grade 5--  is characterized by a specific approach to teaching which tends to be more flexible than the traditional junior high schools.  In a study completed in 1995, the National Middle School Association reported that “The key to being effective with 10-14 year olds is not the grade configuration of a school per se, but the incorporation of recommended practices. “  Principals rated their programs high if they used such practices as “interdisciplinary teams of teachers, common planning time, 8-period days, flexible schedules, activity periods, or cooperative learning.”[4]

 

As emphasized by the National Middle School Association, schools converting from a junior high to a middle school “should be aware that they are making major changes in programs as well as changing the grade configuration.”[5] What do these major changes in program mean for the school building ?  How can the renovation of older buildings or the design of new ones support these programmatic goals ?

 

While there is a growing body of research and discussion regarding the definition of young adolescent needs and ways of best approaching this age group in terms of pedagogical methods and curriculum development, there does not appear to be as much discussion on how the planning and design of middle school buildings can support these goals. 

 

The main goal of this POE is to contribute to the definition of the design of the ideal middle school building by studying how the design supports these goals.  A brief overview of middle school pedagogical goals follows.

 

2.1.2. Brief History of the Middle School

 

Discussions regarding concern over  middle level school education are documented as early as the turn of the century.  Leonard Koos (1920) and Thomas Briggs (1920), both founders of of the junior high school concept were among the first to recognize the young adolescent as being in a distinct developmental stage.  As Briggs stated in his support of a separate learning environment for teaching this age group: “In its essence the junior high school is a device of democracy whereby nurture may cooperate with nature to secure the best results possible for each individual adolescent as well as for society at large.”[6]  Reformers of the 1940s and 1950s wrote essays describing the attributes of the ideal middle level school.    Gruhn and Douglass (1947) wrote what became perhaps the most influential of these, proposing six major functions for the junior high school: integration, exploration, guidance, differentiation, socialization, and articulation.[7]

 

During the 1960s, William Alexander and others proposed an alternative to the 7-9 grades junior high school: that of a 5-8 or 6-8 grades middle school.  This was motivated by observations that the senior high school seemed to dominate the junior high and was not providing the kind of support specifically needed by its younger students.  Reformers began to focus on the definition of a new middle school model. 

 

In 1982 the National Middle School Association (NMSA) published a position paper entitled This We Believe outlining what it considered to be the ten “essential elements of a ‘true’ middle school.”  These were: [8] (1) educators knowledgeable about and committed to young adolescents, (2) a balanced curriculum based on student needs, (3) a range of organizational arrangements, (4) varied instructional strategies, (5) a full exploratory program, (6) comprehensive advising and counseling, (7) continuous progress for students, (8) evaluation procedures compatible with the nature of young adolescents, (9) cooperative planning, and (10) positive school climate.

 

In 1989 the Council on Adolescent Development of the Carnegie Corporation (NY) released a document entitled Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21rst Century.  The report described the difficulties faced by today’s adolescents and outlined eight major recommendations for improving the education of young adolescents:[9] (1) create small communities for learning, (2) teach a core academic program, (3) ensure success for all students, (4) empower teachers and administrators to make decisions about the experiences of middle grade students, (5) staff middle grade schools with teachers who are expert at teaching young adolescents, (6) improve academic performance through fostering the health and fitness of young adolescents, (7) reengage families in the education of young adolescents, and (8) connect the schools with communities.

The National Middle School Association renewed its commitment to young adolescents in 1995 expressed in the form of a position paper entitled This We Believe: Developmentally Responsive Middle Level Schools which called for an update to the approach to middle level learners based on the lessons learned in the previous years.  The paper is based on the premise that young people undergo the most rapid changes during the years of young adolescents than compared to any other time in their lives.  However, it is not so much the extent of growth that is of concern as the “variability of change that creates problems for students and teachers alike.  Dissimilar rates of growth are common in all areas of development so that youngsters of the same chronological age will look and act markedly different.[10]

 

2.1.3. Definition of the Ideal Middle School

 

The 1995 definition of the ideal middle school is based on the premise that changes in society have made young adolescence a more difficult developmental stage than before and that a sensitive transition between the elementary school years and the high school is necessary.  “Developmentally responsive middle schools must take into account all that is known about young adolescents and the cultural context in which they live. This We Believe: Developmentally Responsive Middle Level Schools outlines the six founding principles of such a developmentally responsive middle school:

 

(1) educators committed to young adolescents

 

(2) a shared vision

 

(3) high expectations for all

 

(4) an adult advocate for every student

 

(5) family and community partnerships

 

(6) positive school climate

 

The document also outlines major programmatic areas for the developmentally appropriate middle school.  The founding principles are intended to provide guidance and direction to the programmatic decisions.   These are based on the idea that the curriculum should be more than direct instruction, that it should provide support as well as challenge, that it should foster health, wellness, and safety, and that all learning styles should be honored.

 

2.1.4. Components of the Exemplary Middle School

 

The National Middle School Association defines the exemplary middle school as one which follows the guidelines outlined in This We Believe, summarized above.  According to the NMSA,  “the purpose and functions of the exemplary middle schools center on the intellectual, social, emotional, moral, and physical developmental needs of young adolescents.  Within a few years, young adolescents undergo rapid physical growth, changes in moral reasoning, the onset of abstract thinking, and introduction to a range of social pressures, including sex, drugs, and violence.  Simultaneously, the lifelong developmental tasks of forming a personal identity or self-concept, acquiring social skills, gaining autonomy, and developing character and a set of values are begun. Exemplary middle level programs foster appropriate programs, policies, and practices that foster the development of these tasks in positive ways.”[11]

 

The NMSA identifies the following five components as key for the exemplary middle school curriculum[12]:

 

1. Interdisciplinary teaming: Teaming is said to provide a positive psycho-social environment that allows flexibility and variety and a structure for the teachers to plan and deliver a curriculum that balances academic and individual learner factors.  “Because teachers share the same students and have a common planning period, they are able to respond more quickly to the needs of individual students through collaboration, meeting jointly with parents, and designing thematic units which foster the transfer of ideas among disciplines and increase relevance.”

 

2. Advisory programs: These are intended to break down the school into small units of a group of students assigned a staff member.  The groups meet regularly and discuss topics of concern to the students.  “The purpose of this program is the development of close, trusting relationships between students and adults and to increase engagement with learning and feelings of positive self-esteem and belonging.”

 

3. Varied instruction: This includes integrating learning experiences with students’ specific concerns and real life issues, actively engaging students in problem-solving, emphasizing cooperation and collaboration, and seeking to develop moral character of students.  Instructional methods include: “multi-age grouping over longer periods of time, cross-age tutoring, cooperative learning, hands-on and student-centered activities; use of block time and flexible scheduling; and positive evaluations.”

 

4. Exploratory programs: These are based on capturing the innate curiosity of adolescents, exposing them to a wide range of subjects (academic, vocational, recreational) including “foreign languages, intramural sports, health, clubs, student government, home economics, technological arts, independent study projects, music, art, speech, drama, careers, consumer education, creative writing, and several other specific areas.”

 

5. Transition programs: These focus on creating a smooth transition between schools.  “Eighty-eight percent of public school students begin the middle grades in a new school, a transition which may overwhelm the coping skills of some students” and may affect their ability to adjust to their new environment and therefore, to learn.

 

 

Central Tree Middle School was designed to support a state-of-the-art middle school philosophy and curriculum.  A brief introduction to the school follows.

 

2.2.1. Location

 

Central Tree Middle School (CTMS) is located on a wooded site about 20 miles northwest of Worcester, MA, and has been occupied since September of 1998. (See Figure 1).

 

2.2.2. History/Background

 

Central Tree Middle School is the only middle level school serving Rutland.  The school, named for a tree representing the geographic center of Massachusetts and located nearby in Rutland, is part of the Wachusetts School District, the largest regional district in the state of Massachusetts. 

 

The middle school opened its doors for the first time in September of 1998.  Prior to this, the students in the middle grades were housed in a K through grade 8 school, located a few hundred yards down the road from the new middle school.  The construction of Central Tree was prompted by overcrowding in Rutland’s K through 8th grade school, which since the completion of the new middle school has been converted to a K through 4th grade school (Naquag Elementary School).  The two schools share the site and a common driveway.

 

The current principal was brought in from another middle school in the district a year prior to the opening of the new school with the explicit goal of developing a state-of-the-art middle school program.  She is a former middle school teacher and an advocate of the new philosophies regarding the instruction of young adolescents.  Some of the teachers were brought to the new school from the old one; others were hired from elsewhere.  Prior to the commencement of the school year, the principal organized a week long training session on middle school pedagogy for the benefit of the entire staff.

 

2.2.3. Educational Mission

 

The school’s core values were developed in conjunction with the community and are expressed in the acronym “R.E.A.C.H. For Excellence” which stands for Responsibility, Excellence, Achievement, Character, and Honor.  These values are taken seriously, are written up in the school handbook, as well as seen flying from banners in the school parking lot.  An unusual tangible example of how the values are incorporated into the school’s policies and everyday life, is the fact that there are no locks on the students’ lockers.  The students are expected to operate on an honor system.

 

Central Tree Middle School’s mission statement includes the following goals:

 

1. To develop a program to deliver the curriculum of the Wachusett Regional School District

2. To develop an effective middle school program

3. To meet the needs of diverse learners

4. To provide appropriate student services

5. To create a safe learning environment and physical plant.

 

Figure 1.  Location of Central Tree Middle School in Rutland, Massachusetts
The Student Achievement Chart and the description of the Student Centered Environment provide the background upon which the curriculum is carried out (see Figure 2).  Teaching is geared as much as possible to the individual in order to fully engage the students and support them so that they may reach their full potential.  Rather than having teachers present previously defined subject matter to a large group of students who are expected to absorb the information, teachers learn as much as possible about each child and teach to their specific interests while, of course, fulfilling their obligation to cover district and state curriculum mandates.

 

2.2.4. Educational Approach

 

Team Teaching .  The main organizing principal for instruction at Central Tree, as at other middle schools applying the latest research on young adolescent needs, is team teaching.  Teachers plan their lessons together, brain storm together, and gain from each other’s input.  Team teaching facilitates meeting the goal of having an interdisciplinary approach to subject matter and provides support for interactive lesson planning.

 

Grade 5 is treated as the transition between elementary and middle school and therefore, is only partially team taught.  In order to provide a more nurturing experience, there are two, two person teams.  This limits the number of adults the children come into contact with and keeps the number of changes they experience in a day to a minimum; they only change classrooms three times a day. The fifth graders are taught much like elementary school children.  They also are the only grade that gets recess twice a day, the others only have lunch recess.  The fifth grade schedule is as follows:

 

8:15 - 9:50         Language Arts block

9:50 - 10:05       15 minute recess

10:05 - 10:50     switch classes with team member in adjacent classroom for Math or Science

10:52 - 11:58     Related Arts

12:00 - 12:30     Lunch

12:32 - !:02        Advisory Group

!:00 - 2:00         Math or Science in classroom

2:00- 3:00          Social Studies

 

Italics indicate the three times that the fifth grade children change classrooms.

 

The older children have a shorter attention span and are seen as having less of a need for nurturing.  Therefore, with the exception of grade 5, all the children are placed into clusters organized by grade level in which each team is comprised of five teachers.

 

Integrated Curriculum.  The teachers across each grade level work together to develop a curriculum which is coordinated, that is, each subject matter relates to the other by studying a common theme from each discipline’s particular point of view.

 

Curriculum Compacting.   Students break out into small groups based on their individual interests and create group or individual projects.  Often end result includes performance, using technology to demonstrate knowledge gained.  Each teacher may give an assignment to the student that ties into a particular theme.

 

Figure 2.  Student Achievement Plan and Student Centered Environment

                Central Tree Middle School (New Rutland Middle School)

 

Flexible Scheduling, (sometimes called block scheduling).  At Central Tree there are no bells, no intercom announcements interrupting the academic day.  “The teachers know what they need,” saysthe schoolprincipal.  The week is organized with flexible scheduling so that if, for example, the math teacher feels she needs 2 hours to work on fractions on Tuesday, she makes arrangements with the language arts teacher who then plans her lessons accordingly.  In this way lesson planning is made around the subject matter and not to fit artificial scheduling constraints.  Teachers alternate times depending on the needs of the students and the subject matter.  Subjects taught are: Language arts, Social studies, Math, Science, and World Languages (German and Spanish)

 

Group Learning.  Working in small groups teaches communication skills, teamwork, decision-making skills, time management and negotiation skills - all extremely valuable in the world at large.

 

Advisory group.  There is no homeroom at Central Tree, instead the day starts with first period.   Every day at around noon, the entire student body breaks up into groups of 12.   Rather  than organizing the student body into traditional homerooms, Central Tree Middle School assigns the students an advisor and a group of 11 other students with whom they share academic and personal events.  The 7th and 8th grades meet from 12:00 to 12:30, while the 5th and 6th graders meet from 12:30 to 1:00.  They have lunch the other half hour.   These meetings break up the day and provide a period of focused attention for each child.

 

The advisor helps the students in his or her group set goals, go over homework assignments, organize their plan book.  This helps students take responsibility for their duties.  If necessary, the advisor communicates with the parents through the plan book, thus keeping parents aware of the students’ daily progress.  During the Friday advisory time everyone -- including the teachers -- is involved in “sustained silent reading time,”  in which they read for pleasure.

 

The advisor gets to know the students on many levels and often will contribute information to the students team of teachers about a students personal life or interests.  In this way the students’ other teachers may customize the learning experience to each students’ interests in ways that are more relevant to their lives and therefore keep them more fully engaged.  This is also intended as  a way to ease the transition between elementary school and high school.

 

Through the advisory groups, the children also are involved in a number of community service projects (over 30 community service projects were organized this year alone).  These range from  raising money for hurricane victims to nursing home visits to buddy system for elementary school children.  It is believed that the middle school children learn tremendously from these experiences.

 

As previously mentioned, advisory group takes place mid-day.  The 7th and 8th graders have their advisory group while the 5th and 6th graders are eating lunch from 12:00 - 12:30 and then the 5th and 6th graders meet with their advisory groups between 12:30 and 1:00 while the 7th and 8th graders have their lunch.  During lunch recess, the students can go outside, go to the music room,  or obtain one of 25 passes given out for the library.  Indoor recess takes place in the gym or in the cafeteria.

 

2.2.5. Related Arts or Specials

 

“Art and music and gym used to be used as fillers in the week.  We consider them to be as important as the other subjects we teach and therefore, each student takes 68 minutes a day of one of the four related arts per quarter.....” (School Principal)  In addition to art, music, and gym, children also take technology education - every child takes one related art class per quarter.  This results in their taking 45 days of each which actually works out to more time than if they were taking each once a week.  More importantly, the children can follow up in their work as they do in other subjects they have daily and this results in creating an art program where projects can be more serious and art can be taken more seriously.

 

As these programs develop they will be more fully integrated with academic curriculum and with each other.  Currently they are somewhat separate from the academic teams and do not have many opportunities to meet with team teachers.

 

One of the main goals of the Central Tree approach to middle school learners is to provide them with the opportunity to try many things.  For example, in art class students are given the chance to work with a pottery wheel, a kilm, weaving, tapestry - to work with a variety of media.  Likewise in music class they have an orchestra, yamaha piano lab, chorus, guitar lab, even a rock band.  Plans are underway for Project Adventure in which the theme will be “Ropes and Climbing Walls.”  This is not only going to be a Physical Education excercise, but also one in trust building and will be related to the academic curriculum in a number of ways.  Each year builds on the previous so that the programs continue to grow stronger. 

 

Technology Education covers 13 modules, each exposing students to different kinds of technology including video, bio-medical, robotics, and rocketry.  Sixth grade students try their tongue at Latin, French, German, and Spanish, all in the same year.

 

 

2.2.6. Flexible scheduling

 

Lunch, advisory group, and specials are the only scheduled classes.  The other teachers schedule their classes around these.  The seventh grade has an extended language arts block once a week (this is a 68 minute double period).  The sixth grade English and Math switch off extended blocks every other day so that, for example, English will have first and second periods on Monday, while Math will have first and second on Tuesday.

 

Even seventh and eighth graders do not cross each other in the corridor except for lunch time because the changing times are staggered.  There are no bells or announcements made over the intercom while school is in session.  Instead, teachers lean out into the classrooms in the cluster and dismiss class.

 

As previously mentioned, the fifth graders are taught more like elementary school children, helping  them to make a gradual transition to middle school life.

 

 

2.3. School Building

 

Central Tree currently houses 350 students (and is designed for a capacity of 450-500 students) taught by approximately 25 teachers in approximately 65,000 sq. ft.   The building, which houses fifth through eighth grades is divided into two levels.  The fifth and sixth grade classrooms are laid out in clusters on the first floor, while the seventh and eighth grade classroom clusters are located on the second floor.  A double-height corridor was designed to visually connect the two levels.  (See Figure 3)

 

The building is organized into two zones: the academic wing and the non-academic wing.  The latter is comprised of a group of large (gymnasium, cafetorium, Music Lab) spaces, administrative offices, and maintenance/storage/electrical systems.  

 

In the academic wing there is one classroom cluster per grade level and each cluster is comprised of four standard classrooms, one science classroom as well as a team office and storage.   Each classroom has five computers in addition to that of the teacher.  At the center of the first floor classroom clusters is the Learning Resource Center (or library) with its adjacent Media Center (computer lab).  The center of the second floor classroom clusters is the Technical Lab and Art Studio.  All three spaces are used by all students from both floors.  The Assistant Principal and Special Education offices are also located on the second floor.

 

2.4. Design Concept

 

The main design concept was to break up the school by organizing classrooms into clusters.  This is intended to reinforce team teaching and to create a sense of identification with a cluster.  In addition, the design of the building is intended to:

 

·         Provide flexibility

·         Provide an identifiable “home” for each grade level

·         Support the integration of technology throughout the curriculum

·         Provide for opportunities for group learning

·         Create a sense of school community

·         Provide a variety and range of spaces for different types of learning

·         Create special places for informal socializing

·         Allow for opportunities for hand on and project-based learning

·         Support developmentally appropriate independence

·         Support interdisciplinary team teaching

 

The building was designed with some participation of staff as members of a Building Committee and input from the District Administrator, but was primarily the result of the architects’ experience designing schools.

 

Figure 3a.  Floor Plan of Central Tree Middle School: First Floor

 

Figure 3b.  Floor Plan of Central Tree Middle School: Second Floor

 

2.4.1. Noteworthy Design Features

 

The building is quite dramatic both in its exterior as well as in its interior appearance.  The building’s exterior is characterized by a significant main entry with pitched roof and large decorative signage with the school name indicating the point of entry.  The  variously shaped  windows are also very noticeable.  The interior is very colorful, playful, and bright with a lot of both natural and artificial lighting.  Walls are tiled in bright colors and the flooring is patterned. 

 

Spaces are connected in a variety of ways including glass sections of wall and a balcony providing visual connection between the younger and the older grades.

 

2.5. Staff

 

The following is a list of staff employed at Central Tree Middle School.

 

4 - 5th grade teachers                                       

4 - 6th grade teachers                                       

5 - 7th grade teachers                                       

5 - 8th grade teachers                                       

2 special education teachers                              

4 related arts teachers                                      

1 developmental teacher

25 total teachers

 

1 principal

1 assistant principal

1 guidance counselor

1 school psychologist

1 speech and language specialist

1 nurse

11 aides

3 kitchen staff

3 custodians

1.5 reception personnel

 

49.5 total staff members

 

The Building Evaluation

 

“Middle schools represent the last best hope for influencing the choices young adolescents make.  We are focused not on young adolescents’ raging hormones, but on their raging intellect...(we need) the courage to abandon the myths associated with the development stage known as young adolescence.”[13]