Three Village officials say ninth-grade move to Ward Melville is smoothing students’ path to electives and clubs
Summary
District principals told the board that moving ninth graders to Ward Melville High School has expanded course and extracurricular opportunities, reduced study-hall placements and increased student engagement; principals and students highlighted higher event attendance and adviser capacity needs.
District principals and administrators told the Three Village Central School District Board of Education on Jan. 7 that the district’s reconfiguration—bringing ninth graders to Ward Melville High School—has largely met goals to expand academic and co‑curricular opportunities and boost student engagement.
In a presentation led by secondary principals and high‑school administrators, speakers said ninth graders now have access to many more electives and clubs than under the previous junior‑high model, and cited early indicators of success: fewer ninth‑grade study‑hall assignments and higher participation in clubs and school events.
“The students took the victory,” one principal said, describing staff‑vs‑students volleyball and other community activities that have helped build school spirit during the transition; another administrator said Ward Melville now offers “44 different electives” available to ninth graders this year. Presenters acknowledged some transcription ambiguity in the raw numbers they reported for club enrollments (the transcript records “7 45” enrollments; presenters characterized this as seven hundred‑plus total enrollments across many clubs).
Principals described middle‑school instructional changes that supported the move: common planning time for sixth‑grade teams to keep students from “getting lost,” defined academic homes with locker clusters, and structured team duties that help teachers synchronize schedules and supervision. Presenters also pointed to a stricter cell‑phone policy at middle schools and said it appears to be increasing face‑to‑face engagement among students.
Students interviewed for a brief video offered during the meeting echoed administrators’ assessments. Several students said the transition was easier than expected because older students and staff helped them find classes and settle in. One student advised incoming classmates to be organized, use a locker and join clubs. District leaders highlighted that many events are now selling out quickly and that chaperone capacity and ticket limits will need to be adjusted to match rising demand.
Why it matters: District leaders framed the reconfiguration not as a cosmetic change but as a structural one intended to expand sustained pathways—students can sample electives for multiple years, pursue coherent pathways, and develop deeper co‑curricular involvement. The principals urged the board to monitor staffing and supervision budgets for extracurricular activities as attendance and participation grow.
What’s next: The district said it will continue collecting participation and scheduling data to monitor space and staffing needs and will bring follow‑up updates to the board.
