USD 497 Middle School Redesign Committee

  • At their March 27, 2023 meeting, the following motion was approved by the Board of Education:

    I move the board of education to direct the superintendent to create a Middle School Redesign committee comprised of grade 6-8 educators and administrators, who will return to the board by December 2023 with redesign implementation recommendations for the academic year 2024-25 to include: 

    1) repurposing LMCMS with a special curricular focus, 

    2) boundary shifts aiming for a more equitable distribution of socio-economic status within the student body, 

    3) contingencies for the possible elimination of the middle school second plan time, and 

    4) other related curriculum adjustments.  

    The committee shall demonstrate that it consulted with community members, students, content experts, district bargaining units, and other stakeholders as needed; and that equity, inclusion, and belonging is embedded in all recommendations to the board. 

    This website provides updates to the public on the progress of the Middle School Redesign Committee.

  • Middle School Redesign Meeting Recaps (drafted by the committee and shared with middle school staff):

    November 6, 2023

    The redesign committee came together again this evening to continue discussing and planning for the middle school STEAM academy at LMCMS. 
     
    Several team members recently attended the National Science Teacher Association conference and shared their experiences.  They shared the importance of having a staff who is enthusiastic about doing something different, expecting change, and willing to do professional learning for our STEAM focus.  They also shared a variety of curriculum ideas to investigate as well as ideas for community engagement and communication. 
     
    We decided that all of our courses should have an inquiry-based focus and we are going to start researching professional learning opportunities.  
     
    It was suggested to introduce a project elective for all students that will vary depending on student interest.  It might look like having a group focusing on service learning, one participating in designing stain-resistant clothing, another designing water-saving devices, etc. The idea is to leave the course somewhat open depending on students' interests and what they care about.  
     
    We are still discussing what our calendar and weekly schedule might look like.  
     
    Thank you for reading our update!  Reach out to the redesign team with your questions.

    October 30, 2023

    The redesign committee met this evening to continue our discussion about what LMCMS will look like in the future.
     
    We reviewed our timeline to ensure we are where we want to be before our presentation to the school board.  We also looked at a few schools in the region to visit and see what they are doing in their buildings. 
     
    In our subgroups, we discussed curriculum, schedules, partners, and instructional design possibilities.  The schedule we spent the most time with is a 5-day staff week with a 4-day student week.  Also, we discussed inquiry-based learning versus project-based learning.  We will continue to research, examine resources, and explore future options.
     
    We will meet again next Monday and I look forward to sharing our next update with you!

    October 16, 2023

    We broke into groups to continue our work toward the Redesign of LMCMS.

    Scheduling: What might the schedule might look like at LMCMS?
    • What does our current schedule offer and how many minutes we offer each week: we have a little over 2000 minutes per week of instruction time.
    • What do staff need? How can we build in that time?
    • Looking at the possibility of a 4-day instructional model, with some flexibility during the 5th day of the week.
    • What do we need to do to meet state requirements on that 5th day?  
    • We are looking at other school's schedules to see what aspects we would like to incorporate.
    Community Partners: what community based organizations or companies that we can partner with to provide opportunities to classes?
    • Looked at some partners that we already have established in the district, like Lawrence Arts Center, the Library, KU groups and clubs, LEAP partners, and local businesses, such as Cottin's or Just Food
    • Brainstormed organizations or companies to contact to see if they would be interested in working with us in a greater capacity: Evergy, Prairie Park Nature Center, etc.
    Course Offerings: What do we need to introduce as new courses to offer our students?
    • Looking at Project Lead the Way courses that can be offered.  We already offer some of these courses, but we could expand those offerings
    • Film courses - introduction of film, broadcasting, etc
    • Humanities - combines ELA and Social Studies
    Instructional Strategies: what types of instructional strategies could be integrated into all classes?
    • Project Based Learning
    • Hands-on learning
    • Cross-content teaching
    • Project Lead the Way
    • Professional Development needed for staff in order to have common language.

    October 3, 2023

    The redesign committee met to conclude phase one of the design process at LMCMS.  We announced to the school board last week that the curricular theme at LMCMS will be STEAM starting with the 2024-25 school year.  Thank you to our committee members for helping identify a theme for LMCMS. 
     
    Our focus for this evening's meeting was to identify what needs to be completed next.  We took time to list questions, group, and label those questions to help organize our thinking.  Moving forward, we will be visiting other schools/programs using a STEAM model, discussing what course offerings we will have, what a schedule might look like, and what community partners we can integrate into our new school model. 
     
    At this point, we need additional voices and ideas from you!  If you are interested in helping to guide the next phase of the redesign process, please complete the following application.  All who are interested must submit their application by Monday, October 9th. Staff will be notified whether or not they are selected for phase two of the redesign process by Thursday, October 12.  

    September 19, 2023

    Welcome to this week's Middle School Redesign Committee update!
     
    We made our way through the almost 500 parent responses this evening as well as reflected on the responses we analyzed in our previous meeting.  
     
    We also spent our evening preparing for an update to the school board on Monday, September 25. 

    September 12, 2023

    We asked for feedback related to our current middle school model and potential changes we might make in the future.  We had 237 staff responses and 492 responses from families to the Panorama survey and have started reviewing responses.  We started reviewing staff responses this evening, and we will continue this exploration in our meeting next week with family responses. 

    We also had focus groups with students at two of our middle schools with the other two happening next week to get student ideas on how they would design a school.  Elementary schools will hold their focus groups soon.

    Redesign is still on upcoming Site Council meetings through the month of September as we continue gathering information from families and community members.  

    In our next meeting, we will be looking at parent survey responses, and focus group responses, preparing for our upcoming school board meeting. 

    August 29, 2023

    The redesign committee met this evening. 
     
    Staff and family surveys about redesigning LMCMS will be delivered to staff and families today.  Please take time to look for and complete the survey from Panorama to give us your feedback on what you think our new middle school curricular focus should be. 
     
    Our team also scheduled time to host focus groups for 5th-grade and middle school students to provide their feedback.  We are looking forward to spending time with randomly selected students as they voice their thoughts and opinions about what school should look like.  Redesign is also on the September agenda for Site Council meetings in the middle schools.  Please encourage families to attend these Site Council meetings to share their opinions in person.
     
    In our next meeting, we will be analyzing student responses as well as survey responses from staff and families. 

    August 7, 2023

    Almost welcome back to a new school year!

    The redesign committee scheduled focused groups for staff and families during the first week of school in all four middle schools.  The Panorama survey will be out soon to gather feedback from families and staff to give input on what you believe our redesign theme should be.   

    We scheduled upcoming dates to meet as a committee to analyze data and prepare for an update to the school board. We will present an update to the board on September 25.

    As always, if you have questions, please let your committee members know. 

    July 20, 2023

    The middle school redesign committee met again today to start examining data.  

    We looked at Xello data, specifically students’ saved careers, as well as students' identified skills, and matchmaker results (Thank you, teachers, for having your students complete their Xello lessons!). Similarly, we were provided with student enrollment choices to see what the interest level is in the courses we currently offer. We also examined student climate responses using the Panorama survey and Kansas Communities that Care.  

    We used this data to reflect on the information we are asking from our community.  We also used the data to start narrowing down potential redesign themes.  

    June 27, 2023

    Today’s middle school redesign recap!

    We have selected a survey platform (Panorama!) for getting information from staff and families this August as well as did our last tweaking of wording.  We did an initial overview of the community and student questions written by our KU partners and anticipate finalizing those in our next meeting.  

    We also spent time talking with Jana Hare-Craig about data we have available.  We will be provided with middle school climate, enrollment, and Xello data to continue our quest to identify a curricular theme.

    June 13, 2023

    We spent our time this afternoon finalizing survey questions for staff and caregivers so that we can get input from all of our stakeholders.  Our KU partners are assisting in the design of questions for our community and students.  Surveys for staff and caregivers will be sent out electronically and in-person opportunities to respond during back-to-school activities.  We aim to have all survey information completed by September 1, 2023.

    In our next meeting, we will be analyzing district-wide middle school data to start identifying areas where we think we can meet needs with our current design challenge.

    May 30, 2023

    The middle school redesign committee met today, May 30.  

    We clarified our core audience as well as the groups from whom we will be collecting data.  We will be soliciting feedback from families and caregivers, community members, and staff over the end of the summer.  We will focus on student feedback when school resumes in August. 

    A primary curricular focus for LMCMS will not be determined until we have received feedback and analyzed responses.  Thank you for your support as we all continue to do this work!

    May 9, 2023

    The middle school redesign committee participated in our third meeting on May 9, 2023.  

    We focused on the core audience immediately impacted by the redesign process as being current students in grades 4-7 and their families as well as staff.  The extended audience affected by the redesign changes includes all former and future students and families, administrators, the board of education, and community-based organizations serving our students.  These audience members will be vital in our gathering of data to drive our work forward.

    We also determined our primary focus will be to “Design an innovative learning center at LMCMS that meets the board directive, attracts families and students, and has community engagement so that all students are ready for high school, college, and careers.”

    Our next meeting is scheduled for May 30.   Please don't hesitate to let your representatives know if you have additional questions.

    April 25, 2023 -

    The middle school redesign committee participated in meeting two on April 25 with our next meeting scheduled on May 9.  

    Again, our mission as directed by the school board:

    I move the board of education to direct the superintendent to create a Middle School Redesign committee comprised of grade 6-8 educators and administrators, who will return to the board by December 2023 with redesign implementation recommendations for the academic year 2024-25 to include: 

    1) repurposing LMCMS with a special curricular focus, 

    2) boundary shifts aiming for a more equitable distribution of socio-economic status within the student body, 

    3) contingencies for the possible elimination of the middle school second plan time, and 

    4) other related curriculum adjustments.  

    The committee shall demonstrate that it consulted with community members, students, content experts, district bargaining units, and other stakeholders as needed; and that equity, inclusion, and belonging is embedded in all recommendations to the board. 

    We determined that at this time, we are going to focus on directives 1 & 4.

    We practiced the design process so we could learn how to use the innovators compass.  Along with this, we started design thinking with “How might we statements” for how might we approach the challenge ahead of us.  Some of our questions include how might we…?

    • Increase the value of education for students so that they engage in more real-world applications of learning

    • Offer a more comfortable classroom for students despite limited resources

    • Create a positive environment for students and staff so that students are ready for high school, college and careers

    • Design a framework for a non-traditional learning center at LMCMS so that all students can take control of their learning

    • Create a school for students so that they feel safe, motivated and successful

    • Redesign LMCMS within the constraints while consider stakeholder buy-in

    • Create a learning environment that extends beyond the median learner

    • Create a purpose for LMCMS that meets the board directive, attracts parents and students, has community support, that meets students needs

    This is the first iteration of our brainstorming and we look forward to sharing the evolution of our process!

    April 11, 2023 - 

    The middle school redesign committee met for the first time on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.

    Our mission as directed by the school board:

    I move the board of education to direct the superintendent to create a Middle School Redesign committee comprised of grade 6-8 educators and administrators, who will return to the board by December 2023 with redesign implementation recommendations for the academic year 2024-25 to include: 

    1) repurposing LMCMS with a special curricular focus, 

    2) boundary shifts aiming for a more equitable distribution of socio-economic status within the student body, 

    3) contingencies for the possible elimination of the middle school second plan time, and 

    4) other related curriculum adjustments.  

    The committee shall demonstrate that it consulted with community members, students, content experts, district bargaining units, and other stakeholders as needed; and that equity, inclusion, and belonging is embedded in all recommendations to the board. 

    Some takeaways from our first meeting:

    • All middle schools are represented by the committee. 

    • All core classes, counseling, SPED, ESOL, essentials/electives, & PE all have representation on the committee.

    • Boundaries will be decided by the boundary committee at a later time and date. The city of Lawrence will be divided into three sections at West, Southwest, and Billy Mills.

    • Community members, families, and students will be part of our process.

    • We will focus on using design thinking to identify a special curricular focus for LMCMS.

    • The committee will take the time needed to ensure that decisions are made based on data and input from our community.  A curricular focus will take time to develop and that conversation will not happen before there is input provided by students.