The
Innovation Agenda and its restructuring of Cambridge K-8 elementary
schools into K-5 schools and four middle schools will have significant
long-term impacts on teaching and learning in Cambridge. While
teachers-those that remain at the elementary schools and those at the
newly created middle schools-and administration will also have to make
significant adjustments to the new structure, students will face a
unique set of challenges in the coming year. In their years as K-8
institutions each Cambridge school created its own distinctive nurturing
culture and raised its students accordingly. Consequently many of the
students have grown accustomed to certain customs, certain teachers, and
certain classmates, all within a smaller close knit community. If the
new middle schools are to be successful, they must recreate some of the
more successful aspects of the outgoing K-8 structure, like the
nurturing communities built over years, even as they introduce unique
benefits of the middle school model such as the increased academic
diversity and rigor that can come with larger cohort sizes.
As
part of a larger effort to begin building this nurturing community for
the three Cambridge Street Triad elementary schools held a field day for
their students. On Friday, May 25th the fifth, sixth, and seventh
graders from the three triad schools: Fletcher Maynard Academy,
Cambridgeport, and King Open, gathered at the Frisoli field for the
field day. Students participated in a number of enrichment activities
such as a "treasure hunt" and "human knot". The organizers chose and
tailored the actives to require significant interaction and teamwork
with the goal of pushing the students to interact and move beyond their
school based comfort zones. Groups were structured to ensure that
students from the different elementary schools would form mixed groups,
allowing students to engage in the various activities together. After
rotating through the various activity stations the students gathered on
the basketball court to eat a bagged lunch together before going back to
their respective schools.
To
hear the students laughing and talking throughout the morning and even
as they left the field en route to their schools made it quite clear
that the event was a success. Students not only met their future
classmates, but had the opportunity stand, sit, and run by their sides
as they engaged in team-building activities. The event was made possible
by the brilliant collaborative efforts of principals and staff from the
three schools, and the administration and staff of the CPSD Physical
Education department. The Innovation Agenda and the new middle schools
hold immense promise for Cambridge students. The faculty, staff, and
administration for the Cambridge Public Schools should be commended for
their efforts to prepare the students for the coming changes. The better
prepared all stakeholder are, the more likely the Agenda's success and
ultimately and most importantly, the better off students will be.