Kennedy Junior High School has a name which might indicate a
method of delivering instruction that is attached to
departmentalization. This is not the case, however. Kennedy is an
Illinois State Model Middle School aptly named by the Illinois
Association of Middle Schools. We are indeed a middle school with a
Junior High School name. The difference between Junior High School and
Middle School is teaming. In a Junior High School, there are no teams.
Departments, i.e. the math department, deliver math instruction to all
students who take math. In a middle school or teaming approach
approximately 120 students are placed on a team with 4-5 teachers who
get to know their students very well. These 4-5 teachers deliver all
the instruction to their 120 or so students. The middle school is
modeled after Oxford and other great universities which have smaller
colleges within the large university. So, a middle school has small
teams within the larger school.
A team is a group of
approximately 150 students who are assigned to the same group of core
teachers, who provide smaller learning groups at each grade level. Each
team is comprised of four or five teachers who are assigned the
responsibility of educating 150 students in the areas of language arts,
math, science, and social studies.
For further information about a team and team member, click on the link in the left sidebar.
