Separating elementary grades in Hyde Park brings benefits, a few inconveniences

By Angeline Olschewski

December 3, 2007 | HYDE PARK -- By the time they graduate, Hyde Park children have been in five schools. North Park Elementary encompasses kindergarten through second grade. Greenville Elementary teaches third through fifth. Cedar Ridge hosts sixth and seventh. North Cache accommodates eighth and ninth grades. And finally, Sky View educates tenth through twelfth.

Traditionally, students attend three or four schools before graduating, including elementary school, middle school, junior high or intermediate school and high school. So what is the reason behind the separation in elementary?

According to North Park Principal Gary Thomas, Smithfield did it first. The city was constructing a new school building on the east side of Main Street. The current elementary school was on the west side. The citizens didn't want the community being divided by the new school, so they turned the old elementary into kindergarten through second grade, and the new school into third through fifth.

"That way everyone got three years at both the old and new school," Thomas said. "The model worked so well in Smithfield, they decided to replicate it."

Thomas feels there are many advantages and a few disadvantages to the division. "Literacy in the early grades is the number one focus," he said. "In third, fourth, fifth, they shift focus to social studies and the curriculum is divided. This way the K-2 school is all focused on the same goal."

Greenville Elementary Principal Joel Allred also sees many advantages. Both agree that bullying is less of a problem than in traditional K-5 schools.

"The maturity levels of children are not as diverse or spread out," Allred noted. "For example: recess. I don't have fifth graders pounding on first graders."

Parents and students also like the split. Resident Jill Hawkins has three kids in three different schools. She explained that the bus system takes the stress out of carpooling each child to his/her school for the different starting times.

"[Changing schools] is good in a sense ... it makes learning more exciting," Hawkins said. "A new school, new system, different atmosphere and different teachers keeps it exciting to learn."

Her daughters agree. Mallori is in eighth grade at North Cache, and Madison is in fifth grade at Greenville Elementary. They will never be in the same school at the same time. "I think it's better that they broke it up," Madison said, "because sometimes siblings need to be apart."

"I like it because it gives you a chance for a different atmosphere and different teachers," Mallory added. "They can get boring."

The main complaint from parents is the scheduling of parent/teacher conferences.

"I hate parent/teacher conference time," Hawkins grumbled. "They stagger them; it takes a whole month to go to parent/teacher conferences."

Both Jill and her husband, Scott, work, which means they have to make special arrangements when one of their children has a parent/teacher conference week, half-day on Thursday and no school on Friday. She suggests they do them all the same week so that the children will be out of school at the same time.

"Most parents need [conferences] after work," Principal Thomas clarified. "If we coordinate, we are squeezing 1,000 parents into 3 to 6 [p.m.]" With his own three kids in three different schools, he also understands the frustration and inconvenience. "My wife and I had to split up," Thomas said. He went to one child's school while she went to another.

"Parent/teacher conference time scheduling with different schools can be challenging," Principal Allred admits. "I've had feedback both directions."

Hawkins said that overall the additional school works well. "I like the system because I feel it gives them a fresh start," she said, "and their learning is enhanced when they do that."

NW
RB