Video Short Takes: Students and Parents Talk About Looping Programs

Student after student spoke of the benefits of the middle school looping programs at the public forum on Wednesday night.

They came wearing their looping program shirts, some of them barely reaching over the podium and spoke of how much they loved school because of the programs, how the programs made bullying non-existent and of how much they learned.

The middle school looping programs are multi-age programs at Mystic Middle School and Pawcatuck Middle School that combine fifth and sixth grade students and sixth and seventh grade students. The programs last for two years and students stay with the same teacher for those two years.

The Stonington Public School system is working to determine how the looping programs fit into the Common Core State Standards. The Connecticut State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards in July 2010, and complete implementation of the standards is supposed to take place for the 2013-14 school year.

Pawcatuck Middle School Principal Tim Smith said some of the challenges with the looping programs and the Common Core State Standards is how grade level levels will have different units, and new science standards could impact curriculum and instruction in the multi-age programs.

School officials did not make any decisions on the looping programs at the meeting, and Smith said the goal was simply to get as much feedback from the community as possible.

Look through the video short takes attached to this article to hear the feedback from students, parents and Superintendent Van Riley.

Tell us: Can the middle school looping programs continue with the new standards? Has your son or daughter participated in one the programs? What do you think of the programs?