"Party people in the house," says Darrell Sasagawa to the fourth-graders on the stage before him at La Entrada Middle School in Menlo Park. With that cue and a hand signal, they are ready to rap:
I'm gonna tell you 'bout some lines so listen up, dude.
The first one is a line of latitude.
It goes from east to west, it goes from side to side.
It goes around the world and, YO! That's really wide.
This line is the equator - it's a line of latitude,
So remember the equator 'cause it's really wide, dude!
The fourth-graders attend what's called an "elemiddle school" for grades 4-8, one of only a few in the state. Sasagawa is a member of the Las Lomitas Teachers Association.
In many communities, parents of fifth- and sixth-graders fret about their students attending middle school. But since the mid-1970s, the Las Lomitas School District has included fourth-graders in the middle school.
"When it first happened, there was a lot of opposition," recalls LLTA President Walden Powell, a sixth-grade social studies and English teacher at the site. Parents were concerned about their youngsters being on the same campus as well-developed adolescents.
|
|
|
Darrell Sasagawa at La Entrada Middle School in Menlo Park uses a rap to teach 4th-graders like Robert de Geus about latitude. |
The decision to go 4-8 was strictly financial. Two out of four schools were closed down because of declining enrollment. La Entrada had to work with what was left.
Surprisingly, say staff, the grade configuration has worked. "It's the way to go," says Powell. "It simply had to work out. It was the only way to keep the schools going."
Every year, though, they have to help parents overcome their initial reaction, which can border on "freaking out."
"We have a third-grade parent information night in the spring with a panel of teachers who give an overview of the program for fourth-graders and what a typical day is like. We answer questions parents have and help ease their minds," says Sasagawa.
Some students make a seamless transition to the school and do very well. Others have a more difficult time.
"It's a big jump from third grade."
To help with the transition, Sasagawa does a lot of "community building exercises" at the beginning of the year. "We help them see that a community is not just an area or classroom, but a group of people who occupy that area."
Fourth-grader Julia Rafael was somewhat fearful about going to an elemiddle school. "I was afraid all of the older kids were going to be bullies, but they're not," she says.
Nick Garcia, also in fourth grade, says it has been a positive experience. "I have learned how to communicate with older kids."
The fourth- and fifth-graders are on one schedule and the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders are on another, with bells ringing at all times of the day. "It's sort of like having two schools within a school," says Powell.
Still, there is a lot of mixing it up with the various grade levels, says Powell, usually taking place under staff supervision.
"When my sixth-graders write short stories, we go read them to the younger kids. And when the fourth- and fifth-graders perform, they like for the bigger kids to be their audience. The older kids get all sentimental watching them and remembering their performances as younger kids."
In the after-school center in the library, students in grades 6-8 tutor younger students. Older students also assist with after-school sports for younger students. And students of all ages have access to physical education, computer labs and a television broadcasting station on-site.
However, when it comes to some things, the classes do not intermix. "Our dances are just for grades 6-8," says Powell. "Fourth- and fifth-graders are definitely not allowed."
