Octorara middle school launch draws positive feedback; parent raises concerns about honors resources and CKLA social-studies pilot

District administrators told the board the new middle school structure and related building transitions have launched smoothly and received positive early feedback from families, staff and students; at the same time, a parent urged the board to review honors-course resources and supplemental social-studies materials.

Superintendent's and administrators' remarks summarized operational changes: most middle-school teachers moved to new classrooms, exploratory rotations and daily advisory are in place, and the no-bell schedule staggered transitions so not all students are in hallways at once. The district reported that a survey distributed at the end of the first week showed more than 92% of responding families indicated their child had a positive first week. Administrators said staff and community partners have supported PBIS routines, restorative practices and advisory activities. One administrator called the district’s no-cell-phone practice “a game changer” for student attention and social interaction.

During public comment, Catherine Clangan Smith of Parkesburg Borough thanked teachers and staff and asked the board to “keep in mind” three areas for ongoing review. First, she asked the board to consider ensuring middle-school honors courses in math and ELA are structured to prepare students for high-school honors classes. Second, she said she was surprised that some honors-course syllabi provided at open house did not list textbooks and in one instance stated "there will be no textbook." Third, she urged the district to continue reviewing social-studies instruction after the district adopted the CKLA curriculum, noting that third- through fifth-grade teachers were given flexibility last year while implementing CKLA and that the district planned to return to a structured social-studies time.

Administrators responded that syllabi should include listed resources and encouraged the parent to identify the specific courses so staff could follow up. They reiterated that the CKLA rollout had required significant teacher training and that the district had granted temporary flexibility in scheduling to allow teachers to implement CKLA. The district said it will return to a regular structured time for social studies and will look at supplemental resources to support geography units while the K–12 social-studies curriculum review is underway.

A student speaker raised concerns that high-school lunch portion sizes are “just too small for high schoolers” and suggested reviewing meal plans as part of addressing student basic needs; administrators acknowledged the comment and said student needs are part of operational conversations.

The board also noted that a curriculum review committee for social studies will meet over the coming months and thanked volunteers and staff serving on that committee.

Quotations and attributions in this article are taken from the meeting transcript and assigned only to speakers identified in the meeting record.