On Feb. 27, the New Jersey Department of Education informed the Cherry Hill district that the state aid budget would be reduced by $884,317, following a $6.9 million decrease from the previous year. To help mitigate these changes, all Cherry Hill district middle schools will be transitioning to a junior high school model, eliminating the learning communities students were once organized by as well as advisory periods. Instead, students will have five core classes (Math, ELA, Humanities, Science, World Language, Physical Education/Explorations, Intervention & Enrichment, and Lunch), and will be grouped by grade or subject. An additional support teacher, or interventionist, will be added to each school.
Previously, grades were broken up into smaller “learning communities” (LCs) at Rosa or “houses” at Beck, each around 110-150 students and with its own dedicated teachers. Students would eat lunch and attend classes with their LCs.
The first period of every day, known as advisory, operated similarly to a homeroom. Students could do homework or study, and were also taught Social Emotional Learning. Those involved in music programs, such as band or orchestra, would practice as a group during the advisory period and be pulled out of classes for individual lessons. Under the recent changes, students will have scheduled practice periods that may or may not involve missing class.
The Board of Education attributed the restructuring to reductions in state funding. Cherry Hill Public Schools Superintendent Kwame Morton stated that the switch would save the district $3.7 million, maximizing efficiency while maintaining the same quality education.
While some students felt minimal impact from the restructuring, there were still aspects of the previous schedule they missed. Alexis Abdullah, an eighth grader at Rosa International Middle School, talked about how the Advisory period was a way to destress and prepare for the school day.
“I don’t think it’s that crucial, but it’s a time to go right in the morning when you need to relax a little before your classes…Every year, we’ve done projects with our whole LC that only take place during Advisory, so I don’t know how that would work. Depending on your teachers, you could also finish up schoolwork,” she said.
However, students seemed to have more to say about dividing the grade into LCs, as the middle schools previously did.
“I think the LCs are a good way to organize things,” said Abdullah. “Except that we don’t really get to socialize with our other friends in different LCs.”
Abdullah talked about how, even though the schools rotated lunches so that students could spend time with different LCs, they still had minimal time to eat and talk with their friends. Switching to a junior high model could increase socialization with the entire school community.
Julia Guerrero, an eighth grader at Beck Middle School, shared similar thoughts. Beck divides students into Teams, which serve the same purpose as Rosa’s Learning Communities. Under the new model, teams would be removed the same way LCs would be. Guerrero had both positive and negative views about the structure.
“I think the team format splits up students and it also gives teachers more of an opportunity to discuss what they’re doing. So for example, they don’t have tests on the same days,” said Guerrero. “I think it can be a negative thing too, because if you’re on a team with no one that you know, you struggle.”
Guerrero explained how when she first transferred to Beck, she was placed on Team Seven and struggled to find friends before being moved to Team Nine, where she knew more people and could work better.
She also talked about how the new junior high structure could better prepare middle schoolers for life in high school.
“The way a junior high school is run is much more similar to a high school than the way a middle school is run. So it will prepare them a lot more,” said Guerrero.
However, like Abdullah, Guerrero thought that Advisory should be kept at the beginning of every day.
“I think they are beneficial because it gives students time to ask teachers questions if there isn’t enough time in class, and it also gives them time to make up any work and catch up on things they might not have finished in class,” she said.