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Middle school administrator: most former lab-school students are adapting and many are making the honor roll
Summary
Laramie Middle School administrators told the Albany County School District #1 trustees that 42 students transferred from the district lab school this year, 40 remain at the middle school, and 77% of those students made first-semester honor roll — outperforming grade-level averages, administrators said.
At a board work session, Laramie Middle School administrators reported that the transition for students leaving the district lab school has been largely successful.
"There were 42 students who transferred to LMS from lab this year," said Mr. ODay, a middle-school administrator. "Forty remain at the middle school. Two of those students have chosen to homeschool." He told trustees that of the students now enrolled at Laramie Middle School, 77% made the honor roll in the first semester and the group produced 11 positive postcards and 15 positive referrals, which he said indicate positive academic and behavioral adjustment.
The administrator contrasted that rate with school averages: about 60% of sixth graders, just over 50% of seventh graders and about 49% of eighth graders made the honor roll in the first semester. "From an academic perspective they are outperforming the school average," he said.
Why it matters: the district closed the lab school and moved those students into the middle-school population. Trustees asked whether the influx represents an outsized cohort; Mr. ODay said it does not. He noted that the district also enrolled dozens of students from outside the district during the year (35 sixth-graders, 25 seventh-graders and 26 eighth-graders who were not from the lab school), and that the former-lab students therefore do not represent an unusually large share of new students.
Administrators described supports and concerns. Attendance for the transferred students was generally strong: only four of the group were on the district's chronically absent list (missing 10% or more of school periods), and most did not show major behavior problems. Mr. ODay said students with more involved individualized education programs have faced the largest adjustment challenges in the larger middle-school setting. He described strategies to ease transition, including alternative seating during lunch, break spaces and individualized transition plans or staggered transition timing for students who benefit from that support.
On bullying and prevention, Mr. ODay said Laramie Middle School follows the district bullying policy and relies on MTSS-tiered prevention and CKH tools to teach respectful behavior. He cited student-government lessons and mediation that bring families into restorative conversations when peer conflict arises, and said counseling referrals and situational restorative responses are used in many cases rather than immediate discipline.
Trustee Kim Sorenson praised staff response to student reports, saying staff behavior shows other students "there are adults in their lives that they can share things with" and that consistent, fair responses by staff shape the school climate.
What happens next: trustees heard the update as part of the work session and had follow-up questions about supports. No formal board action was taken on this item at the meeting.
