F ROM T HE HE AD
K to
great By ANDREW D. DEYELL
I
’ve always loved working in middle schools and being a middle school teacher. Loved it. I have worked at higher education, high school, early childhood, and elementary levels, but my sweet spot is middle school. Most people I know—especially other educators—react to that idea with an expression somewhere between amusement and abject horror. Some find middle school students are hard to like and even harder to engage and educate. Middle schoolers can be unsure of themselves, are often very concrete thinkers, and are easily distracted and distraught by things we might consider unimportant. But they’re also endearingly complex. And I love the complexity of middle school and the middle school student's mind. Inspiring these students, opening their minds to new ideas, and watching them develop into critical and deep thinkers is exhilarating. You feel like you are helping the students who need it the most. The middle school years are such important years. I think I’ve always known that in a way, but there is an emerging body of research that supports this thinking. More than that, the research points to the K-8 configuration as being the optimal learning environment for middle school students.
4
Almost all of my 23-plus year career as an independent school teacher and administrator has happened in K-8 schools. And although the research around this configuration affirms my professional choices, I find it is now also affirming the decisions my wife and I have made for our children, who are here with me at EFS. My son is in fourth grade this year, and as he approaches middle school, I’ve never been more confident in or appreciative of the Pre-K–8 configuration and its benefits.
E L M WO O D F R A N K L I N S C H O O L
