How do middle schools effectively prepare students for high school? The answer to this question varies but for some students, the transition can be extremely hard. A few students have reported feeling behind and unprepared. Similarly, teachers have identified gaps in education.

Specifically, many students and teachers have felt that English classes that were offered in middle school did not properly prepare incoming freshmen for higher level courses. Hall Middle School took initiative and decided to focus on effectively preparing students for what’s to come. 

English teacher Fiona Allan, described a discussion she had with her freshmen students about their English classes that they took in middle school.

 Many students said they were frustrated their schools did not prepare them properly and that they felt they were let down by their school. 

“We talked about how upset they were about their experience in middle school, and how their families came together to pay for private tutors,” Allan said.

Allan also pointed out how there were a lot of gaps in students’ skills that they needed to perform well in freshman English.

“They weren’t very prepared. They weren’t great in their writing skills, and I don’t think they read very much,” Allan said.

Allan said students who came from Hall Middle School told her there was no instruction, and some of them had to hire private tutors. 

“I think they should have some instruction when it comes to writing, and a more robust curriculum when it comes to teaching the text,” Allan said.

District leaders overseeing Hall have been working to change that. Brett Geithman, Superintendent of the Larkspur-Corte Madera School District (LCMSD), talked about a strategic plan they had in place from 2016-2024 which the district felt wasn’t specific enough and it did not speak on what they wanted students to leave Hall with.

“I wanted to build out something more than just saying these are competencies that we want the Hall graduates to have. It’s more of what are the knowledge, skills and dispositions that Hall graduates need,” Geithman said.

This prompted LCMSD to implement a new ‘graduate

portrait’ which envisions outcomes for students, that was made this year where the LCMSD identified the key knowledge skills and dispositions that their students need to be successful at Redwood and beyond.

 Hall collaborated with a design thinking firm from San Francisco called Prospect Studios where they did several studies on future trends in jobs and future trends in education. 

“We had this group of 60 people who were a leadership team, and then we went out and got 1,200 different inputs to help us create this,” Geithman said.

Toni Chavez, Hall principal, said that lowering class sizes for students’ benefit was something that was important. 

“I attempted to lower my class sizes where I could to support [students],” Chavez said. “In areas where I feel like students could use some additional instruction or intervention. That’s something I love to do.”

While mainly focusing on support for the students, Hall also wanted to focus on how to better support their teachers. 

“What are the knowledge skills and dispositions that Hall graduates need, and then what do adults need to make them successful,” Geithman said.

One thing added was that staff can nominate other staff members that have the qualities of critical thinking, caring, kind, connected, equity-focused, emotionally and socially aware, according to Geithman. He said the turnout was surprising and it felt good to see everyone getting shout outs.

Chavez stresses the importance of promoting good emotional well-being among middle school students. 

“Middle school is a challenging time for adolescents. I think supporting kids with strong wellness strategies and ways to navigate peer relationships is huge. Making sure that they know it’s going to work out. I want them to find their passions and have a balance of everything,” Chavez said.

Another thing that they are focusing on is making sure all students will have one year of growth in math and reading. 

“Sixty percent of students are on track for reading and 57 % in math,” Geithman said.

Growth can also be seen in tests that are taken every year where they measure standards in proficiency. In the 2023-24 school year 77.19 % of students met or exceeded the standard for ELA, and 70.74 % of students met or exceeded the standard for math. However, last year 78.57 % of students met or exceeded the standard for ELA, and 73.56 % met or exceeded the standard for math.

Chavez similarly talks about support programs as well to help identify where student gaps are in order to give them enrichment where they needed it. 

“We use a support program that helps us with identifying where student gaps are in order to give them enrichment right where they’re at,” Chavez said.

Hall did a six-year longitudinal study that looked at what happens to students after they graduate from Hall and after they graduate from Redwood. Geithman noticed that the students from Hall and other schools are similar to the number of AP classes the students took and passed. 

Hall originally was using standards-based grading, a system that measures a student’s proficiency in learning standards. However, according to Geithman, Hall did another study that was a mixed method study where they looked at quantitative and qualitative data. Hall wanted to see if standards-based grading was working so they reviewed student achievement data and gathered feedback from both Redwood and Hall students, parents, and teachers. 

“The students overwhelmingly wanted A-F. Many parents did too. They felt like it would be more motivating and an easier transition to Redwood,” Geithman said. “After looking at all that data, it was compelling and we made the decision that we need to go back to A-F.” 

Although they noticed no statistically significant differences with students in academic achievement, with the data from looking at CAASP scores and SRI scores.
However  they did see a big difference in how the students felt. Geithman mentioned how they’ve heard good things anecdotally from students, teachers and parents.

“I’ve heard all positive things from students and teachers so far,” Geithman said.