In Beverly Hills, students relish role model status

Public school students who live in the 90210 ZIP code attend a local grammar school until eighth grade — skip middle school entirely — and then enroll in Beverly Hills High School.

The Beverly Hills Unified School District has always had K-8 schools, and members of the Beverly Hills Education Association (BHEA) prefer it that way. In fact, years ago when the district considered creating middle schools, the community shot down the idea with such intensity that the issue has never resurfaced, says Merle Bauer, an eighth-grade English teacher at Beverly Vista Elementary School.

Beverly Vista, a Title I campus surrounded by apartment complexes in the lower part of Beverly Hills, offers its upper-grade students all of the benefits they would have if they attended a regular middle school, say teachers.

"We have never denied a child an opportunity they really deserve," says Mark Frenn, who has taught math at the site for 13 years. "If, for example, we don't have a geometry class for an eighth-grade student who needs one, that's nothing we can't deal with. If a student at that level wanted to go to the high school for first period, it could be handled that way. I have never felt that students were being deprived."

In addition to the usual fare, a good foreign language program and algebra, "we have a very strong band, a pretty substantial orchestra and a good arts program."

City-sponsored school dances include middle-grade students at all of the district's K-8 schools as a way to get students accustomed to socializing outside their comfort zone.

Teachers say that it's the way resources are used — rather than having an abundance of resources — that makes the system work. For example, some of the instructors are rotated between campuses to reach more of the upper-grade students. Heather Ash, who teaches physical education to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, says it's definitely an advantage for her students to have a specialized PE teacher - such as would be available in a middle school — who is capable of doing skills testing to make sure they meet the state's physical education standards.

"Having a separate middle school doesn't meet the needs of young adolescents," says Bauer. "At one time I wasn't in fashion with this viewpoint. But now I am."

Even though no test score comparison has been conducted in California, she believes that eighth-graders in K-8 schools score significantly higher than their middle school counterparts on standardized tests in both reading and math.

Upper-grade teachers at Beverly Vista work as a team for core subjects and work out strategies together to meet the academic and social needs of each child. When parents come to the school for conferences, it's not unusual for the entire team to show up.

"We don't have kids falling through the cracks here," says Frenn. "Having a smaller number of students at grade level makes things more manageable. Kids don't get lost, and their needs can be seen and addressed by the teachers. I think the typical middle school 'attitude' is softened here. We don't have the same discipline problems here that middle schools do. Kids here develop relationships with teachers and confide in teachers more. And because there are fewer of them in each grade level, we can keep tabs on them."

"We provide a very nurturing environment," agrees Bauer. The older students visit the lower grades to read to students and in some cases help tutor them. Because the younger students look up to them as positive role models, the middle-graders tend to feel good about themselves. "It's good for both the young and the old."

"This school is not too big; you get all the attention you need," says eighth-grader Adam Cohen, who has attended the school since second grade. "And I like having friends who are younger and helping them."

"The little kids look up to you here," says eighth-grader Jennifer Price, who has been at the school since kindergarten. "I think that's cool."

"People are definitely nicer when you have little kids around," adds eighth-grader Jason Belled, student body president. "I like interacting with the little kids and helping them with their homework or talking with them at lunch."

K-8 students usually make a smooth transition to the district's high school, says BHEA President Chris Bushee, a chemistry teacher at Beverly Hills High School. "I think our district does a good job with the transition to high school. We have a whole day spent on ninth-grade orientation. I hear of some cases where students sometimes feel a little lost, but I think you might also have that from students who go to high school after attending a traditional middle school environment."

One would think students would be eager to get away after attending just one school until eighth-grade, but that is seldom the case, says Bauer. "Many kids come back here to visit when they get to the high school because they miss it here. And when they come back here to visit, they always seem so happy to see us."