Letter from Allison Boutet, Asst. Superintendent for Middle Schools

  • Dear Middle School Families,

    Following last week’s district communication, I am excited to share the highlights of the proposed changes from our middle school design team, composed of certified educators, educational support professionals, and administrators, to the middle school schedule for the 2025-2026 school year. These updates, developed in collaboration with middle school staff from all five buildings, are designed to enhance your child’s educational experience.

    Key Changes 

    • Flexible Modified Block: The flexible modified block schedule combines longer class periods with traditional-length periods to enhance learning and balance the school day. Students will continue to have a double period of English Language Arts and a math class that is 1.5 times longer than before. Social Studies and Science will alternate between longer blocks for hands-on learning and shorter, traditional periods throughout the week. They still will meet for the similar amount of total minutes per week as they do currently. Four other periods—lunch/recess, two exploratory courses, and physical education—will remain a similar one period length. This schedule supports deeper learning, encourages socialization and movement, provides appropriate structure, and helps build stamina to prepare students for high school.
    • English Language Arts: Double period of time; similar to what currently occurs.
    • Math: Students will have an additional 15-20 minutes of math each day, bringing the total to 55-60 minutes, which aligns with best practices for middle school math instruction. This extra time allows teachers to connect with students' prior knowledge, engage them in meaningful content, and support active learning through exploration, collaboration, and problem-solving. Students will also have more opportunities to discuss ideas, share their thinking, and refine their understanding.
    • WIN: Students will now have a daily 20-minute "What I Need" (WIN) period for personalized support, allowing them to receive targeted help or enrichment in math, address learning gaps, extend their skills, or work with certified staff such as counselors, social workers, speech pathologists, interventionists, learning behavior specialists or multilingual teachers. This time is designed to meet each student’s unique needs and support their individual growth.
    • Social Studies and Science: Switch to an A/B flexible modified block schedule, where Social Studies and Science alternate each day. Teachers will have the flexibility to adjust the schedule based on instructional needs. For example, they may choose to split a block into individual periods if it better supports the lesson plan or learning goals. On anchor days, students will attend both subjects for shorter, single periods. This approach provides a balanced mix of deeper learning opportunities, hands-on projects, and application time during block days, while shorter periods on anchor days are ideal for direct instruction, reviews, or brief assessments.
    • Anchor Days: Once per week (in a traditional 5 day week), all classes meet, starting with a co-taught advisory to build connections, executive functioning skills, and support social-emotional learning.
    • Physical Education: Students will continue to have daily Physical Education classes.
    • Lunch and Recess: Continue daily, with alternative recess options tailored to student preferences. 
    • Exploratory Courses: Students will now take two daily exploratory classes. Band and Orchestra will be part of the exploratory wheel, no longer pulling students from core classes. Over the next 3-4 years, we plan to add 3-5 more exploratory options, including high school credit for foreign language classes.
    • Interdisciplinary Learning: Core and exploratory classes will include opportunities for teamwork and hands-on projects across subjects.
    • Extracurricular Opportunities: Each year, we gather feedback from students about the current extracurricular offerings, including clubs, intramurals, and athletics, at the middle school level. We are committed to aligning these activities with students' evolving interests and will continue to review and adapt our offerings annually. We understand that students are looking for more opportunities and are asking for extracurricular activities to be available before, during, and after the school day to best meet their needs, interests, and availability.


    Why These Changes Matter

    These updates prioritize deep learning, social-emotional support, and opportunities for exploration, ensuring that every student is prepared for success in high school and beyond.

    To learn more, please visit the Innovative School Experience webpage or contact us through Let’s Talk. Thank you for your ongoing support!

    Sincerely,

    Allison Boutet, Assistant Superintendent for Middle Schools