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District to pilot two middle‑school academies focused on ELA and math mastery
Summary
Los Alamitos Unified will pilot two 0‑period 'academy' courses for sixth graders at Oak and McAuliffe middle schools in spring: scripted, mastery‑centered ELA and math classes emphasizing executive functioning, weekly five‑question checks, and goal setting. Selection will be rolling and classes begin Jan. 20.
Education Services presented a plan to launch a pair of middle‑school academies aimed at students near proficiency in English language arts and math, and the board approved the pilot at its Dec. 16 meeting.
The Lion Academy (Oak Middle School) and Eagle Academy (McAuliffe Middle School) will run as 0‑period courses that meet Monday through Friday and count as academic classes with attendance and grading. The model pairs 80% common, research‑based curriculum (Standards Plus) with 20% individualized instruction; grading emphasizes effort, in‑class task completion and attendance. Teachers for the pilot will be district staff who applied and were selected by middle‑school administrators and instructional coaches.
A central piece of the model is instruction in executive functioning — organization, time management, task initiation and goal setting — coupled with weekly formative checks: short five‑question assessments every Friday tied precisely to the week’s standard, with immediate remediation opportunities during the same period. Reed said the district received strong parent interest (about 100 families per site expressed interest) and had held a parent information night; selected students and parents will sign an academy commitment contract. Classes are scheduled to begin Jan. 20.
Board members asked about overlap with new middle‑school 'wheel' offerings (leadership/organization) and the mechanics of running separate ELA and math academy sections; staff clarified they will offer one section each of ELA and math at each middle school for the pilot and that the academy curriculum will be scripted to allow replication if successful.
Next steps: complete teacher selection this week, finalize rosters and notify selected families; staff will return with outcome metrics after the pilot semester.
