Now a middle school, 'so much to be excited about' at Hope Highlands

By Jen Cowart
Posted 8/31/16

Ahead of the transition of sixth-grade students back to the middle school level and the opening of Hope Highlands as a fourth middle school, many have wondered how the building would look once its transformation was complete. Recently, Alex

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Now a middle school, 'so much to be excited about' at Hope Highlands

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Ahead of the transition of sixth-grade students back to the middle school level and the opening of Hope Highlands as a fourth middle school, many have wondered how the building would look once its transformation was complete.

Recently, Alex Kanelos, the school’s new principal, took time out to give a tour of the facility and discuss some of the updates and changes, as well as the vision for the nearly 300-student school in the year ahead.

“We have a lot of excitement among the teachers and the students about the legacy we are starting here this year,” Kanelos said. “We have identified some key initiatives that we’re focused on for the year, and the one thing we all agreed upon is the creating of a shared vision among the students, teachers, parents, and throughout the community for this new middle school. It’s truly a blank canvas for this year’s community to start leaving their own mark on.”

Kanelos began his tour in the new technology lab, which was mapped out to show computer stations around the perimeter of the room and workstations in the center of the room.

“Ideally we’ve designed this space so that the students can leave their computer area and move to the center of the room to the workstations so that they can start working on whatever the item is that they’re designing. It’s incorporating many of our STEM initiatives, and we’ve gotten a great deal of help on this from Dan McKenna, the tech ed department, and from our central administration,” Kanelos said. “There is also a computer lab upstairs which will serve as a resource for students, and we have mobile carts of computers as well. There is a lot of accessibility for both our teachers and our students.”

As the tour continued, fresh coats of paint were bright on the walls and the floors gleamed with new coats of wax. Lockers lined the hallways. The kitchen had been retrofitted for the middle school model, which differs from the elementary plan, and the food will be prepared on site.

“We are transitioning just grades six and seven this year, but we have prepared spaces which will fit the addition of the eighth-grade students the following year,” Kanelos said.

He pointed out the new furniture that has been brought in for the sixth-grade students, and showed that the desks can work as individual desks, but then easily be turned to fit together for group collaboration. He noted that the furniture that remained has been retrofitted to fit older students, with more middle school-sized desks and chairs on the way.

“The sixth-grade will be housed on the first floor … and the science labs will also be on the first floor. The science labs will fit in with the middle school model and expectations,” he said. “We have also set up the English Language Arts and social studies teachers in inter-joining rooms for each team in order to facilitate collaboration between the curriculum areas. Those two areas of the curriculum really lend themselves to an interdisciplinary approach, and the teachers can work together.”

Kanelos ticked off just some of the differences that the sixth-grade students will notice coming into the middle school, including the exposure to foreign languages and increased exposure to technology. He stated that a great deal of professional development has been taking place throughout the summer for teachers.

“There has been some intensive professional development this summer for our sixth-grade teachers in the area of English Language Arts in order to help with this transition, and we’ve also incorporated the social studies teachers for collaboration,” he said. “They’ve worked on lessons and assessments which will reflect what’s being taught in both classes based on the Common Core State Standards.”

As tour came to a close, Kanelos again emphasized the opportunity for the school community to take ownership, not just of learning initiatives but of the school itself.

“There is so much to be excited about here,” he said. “This is an open canvas, a chance to create a shared vision between the kids and the staff. Just about every staff member here is going to be new to the building. Many of our students will be new, and we’ll all be starting off together. This is not going to be the Hope Highlands, Orchard Farms and Oak Lawn elementary schools, all separate, but instead, it’s going to be three schools coming together as one, and that’s exciting.”

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