The Value of the K-8 Education
	Dear Parents, For many years I’ve found myself talking to parents about the many advantages of a K-8 school. Even during the years of the emerging public middle school movement in this country I remember arguing with my professors why I still believed that children were best served in a school that keeps siblings and friends together in the same safe place until they are 13 or 14 and ready for high school. Today I feel as though my patience with the middle school reformers has finally paid off as I now read that virtually every major city in the United States is moving back to the public K-8 school model, as quickly as they are able to budget for such a transition. I believe there are many good reasons for returning to the K-8 model, but first let me remind you that the concept of a separate middle school was created in the first place because of demographics, not because comprehensive educational research had proved that preteens learn better if they are physically moved away from their little brothers and sisters after 5th grade and placed in large institutions that are managed like mini high schools. Actually, middle schools were created in this country when the baby boomers began filling up the elementary school buildings and there simply wasn’t enough room for the 6th-8th graders. The solution that seemed logical to many at the time was to move the older kids out into their own schools. Creating the middle school model actually preceded any thoughtful curricular research as to its suitability for learning. Once the model was in place educational researchers were busy for decades, trying to design a rationale for this approach, as well as curricula to support it pedagogically. Indeed, there is now a plethora of middle school curricula available. However, for reasons relating to the declining quality of many of our public schools the pendulum has swung back, as it frequently does in education, and we now bear witness to the ‘new reform’ movement of creating K-8 schools. The best of these ‘new’ models are in many ways similar to Saint Andrew’s, where: there is a shared common philosophy and mission for 9–10 years of a youngster’s educational journey; there is a coordinated developmental curriculum and program that is created and implemented by the professionals who teach; there is a more natural, family-like, grouping of youngsters; older kids mentor the little ones and the youngest ‘look up’ to the oldest; young teens have authentic ways of showing leadership because the little kids are around; kids remain kids for a longer period of time because they’re more sheltered; extended parenting is central to the school culture; teachers focus on youngsters’ needs instead of on their discipline; and where safety, caring, and values are uppermost in the minds of the adults every single day. When all of these strengths of a K-8 model are present in a mission driven private school with small classes and a focus on academics and character it results in a Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School. Add a Pre-K and it’s practically perfect! Warm regards,