News Summary

MIDDLETOWN — Fourteen years ago, Rebecca Baldwin and Jean Kramer met among the dozens of parents camped out with tents, lawn chairs and sleeping bags at Central Academy waiting to enroll their children in kindergarten.

Tuesday, March 18, Baldwin and Kramer met again, at a more civilized hour, waiting to enroll their students in the school's new middle school program.

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Sue Rogers reads out names on her list as people enter Central Academy on Tuesday, March 18. Some parents stood in line for hours in hopes of getting a spot for their children in the new middle school program.Click to enlarge

"I thought my waiting in line days were over," said Kramer.

Parents started lining up at Central Academy at 9 a.m., after dropping students off at school. By noon, 10 parents were waiting in their cars or in the school's gym.

Just 30 minutes after the school started accepting applications at 7 a.m., 48 students had applied to attend sixth and seventh grades at Central Academy.

The middle school expansion, approved by the school board March 10, will accept 25 students in each grade for sixth through eighth grades.

The school will require students to create portfolios of their work to be reviewed by a committee before graduation; to research and visit colleges; and to study community service groups and intern with a local service agency, said Principal Dianne Suiter.

"Students will be asked to learn deeper rather than more," she said.

At Central, students are grouped by ages rather than grade levels and are allowed to go at their own pace on their level, said Suiter. The middle school program would group students into smaller advisories assigned to one adult mentor, whom they would work with for three years.

"Central has a way of making everything more interesting," said late primary student Alison Shuemake, who will be in sixth grade next year. "I used to hate history; now I love it."

At 25 students per grade, the middle school program will be slightly smaller than the elementary school, which has 35 to 40 students per grade, said Suiter.

Some parents may choose more traditional options for middle school, such as Vail or Verity middle schools.

Baldwin, whose twin daughters will be in seventh grade next year, said she will send one to Vail and keep one at Central.

"I'm sending one to Vail to take advanced classes and to learn more accountability with grades and homework," she said. But for her other daughter, "I think the smaller school will suit her better," she said.