"do NOT send current Golden 5th graders to middle school"

We understand the difficult budget decisions that you must make in January for Jefferson County Public Schools. As you deliberate, we encourage you to keep in mind the following points concerning the Golden articulation area.

1. Bell Middle School does NOT have the capacity to hold all current 5th and 6th grade students in the Golden articulation area. Bell's capacity is 875 students, but the Golden area currently has 952 5th, 6th, and 7th graders. Moving current 5th and 6th graders to Bell in 2010-11 would put Bell at 109\% capacity. In addition, there are currently 1069 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in Golden, which would put Bell at 122\% capacity in 2011-12.

2. Even with the use of temporary buildings, the cost of an elementary school student is much less than the cost of a middle school student. We question whether placing current 5th graders in middle school next year will really save the district money. Instead, we encourage you to allow Golden-area elementary schools the opportunity to reduce the number of temporary buildings that they use over the next few years by better managing choice enrollment.

3. How will Bell Middle School handle Kyffin's GT students? History shows that less than 20\% of Kyffin GT students attend Bell Middle School; instead, most GT students (approximately 70\%) attend Creighton Middle School. Will Kyffin GT students be required to attend Bell for 6th grade and then transition to Creighton for 7th and 8th grade? As the district knows, increased mobility translates to decreased achievement.

4. Several studies (including one study with 44,709 students and 243 schools) have concluded that 6th grade in middle schools negatively affects student achievement. In addition, other major risks exist when placing 6th graders in middle schools (e.g., increased number of drug-related infractions). Please see http://inside.mines.edu/~tcamp/6thGradeToMS.pdf for details. In short, the research shows that some 10- and 11-year-olds are NOT mature enough to handle pressures that exist from older students. When making a decision for ALL students, we urge you to consider Golden's 10- and 11-year-olds who are NOT ready for the middle school environment.

5. In order to improve schooling for young adolescents, many school districts around the country are reconfiguring their schools and returning 6th graders to elementary school (e.g., Philadelphia, New York City, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Baltimore, Oklahoma City, and others). We encourage you to learn from the experiences of these school districts across the United States and NOT place our current 5th graders in middle school next year.

6. We strongly oppose moving 6th graders into middle school, as our research shows that placing 6th graders in middle school is NOT best for our kids. (Again, see http://inside.mines.edu/~tcamp/6thGradeToMS.pdf for details.) If you have research that shows 6th graders should be in middle school, please share it with the community and provide us all an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons. Weve been told 9th grade was moved to high school for academic reasons yet it seems you are considering moving 6th grade to middle school simply because of space. Please keep academics at the forefront of your decision-making process.

We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with our comments. Please contact us if you have questions.