Middle school administrators welcome transition

With several elementary schools transitioning into middle schools this year, their officials have embraced the change and are working hard to be prepared for the school year, hoping the smaller and more focused classrooms will better meet the needs of their students.

“Some [middle school] students you have to really sit down and work with in a very intimate or very focused environment,” said James Sablan, principal of what will now be called San Antonio Middle School.

He said this transformation will enable them to better assist students academically, socially, and emotionally.

“I was a sixth grade teacher for the longest time, and that age group [goes through] the conflicting idea: am I a teenager or am I still a kid?” Sablan said.

He noted overcrowding at Hopwood Junior High School as one problem that prevents a conducive environment, with various communities stretching from Koblerville to Garapan bringing differences in culture that may have clashed in the school setting.

“Hopefully [the transition] will reduce the amount of discipline referrals going on in Hopwood,” he said.

Reo Arriola, vice principal of the new Dandan Middle School, said he looks forward to the new school year as he feels the school’s teachers are motivated and enthusiastic in helping their students succeed.

He noted that a student’s middle school years are sometimes a delicate period as students try to understand changes in their bodies and feelings. However, it is also a time for growth and maturity, he added.

He believes smaller middle schools will help create a “nurturing environment” for students dealing with these changes.

“I know Hopwood was very crowded and as much as the teachers would like to give the attention and the direction they want, it was probably was difficult based on the population,” he said.

He hopes the creation of more middle schools will alleviate the overcrowding problem as well as help meet the more personal needs of students.

“When [middle school students] act up, it’s not usually just to act up, it’s just something that’s happening to them at home or anywhere, and I think by having such a…small class environment, teachers can kind of sense [these problems] and bring it up to the proper authorities,” he said.

By doing this, schools may avoid more discipline problems, he added.

Sablan noted, though, that part of their preparations is similar to how they did it in prior years: diligently painting the campus, cleaning the classrooms, and ensuring they have the resources they have for teachers and students to begin the school year.

Arriola described a similar process, as they have shifted some of their resources to San Vicente Elementary School, and replaced them with materials more fitting for a middle school.

He notes that changes in the size of chairs and furniture had to be accommodated, as well as changes in teacher preparation.

“A majority of the elementary teachers that were at [DES] transitioned to middle school, so they already know what subject, and what grade they are assigned to, and over the summer they [were] going through their resources, and looking online and things like that and preparing for this upcoming school year, so we do have teachers coming in and asking: “Do you have resources?” say for seventh or eight grade social studies,” he said.

He added that teachers have been diligent in coming in and asking for the materials they need for class, and that the school does their best to help them.

Arriola said he is glad that their new principal, Lynn Mendiola, was previously vice principal at Hopwood Junior High School and principal at Saipan Southern High School.

“I’ve been [working in elementary school] my whole career, and a lot of the teachers here have been [working in elementary school] their whole career, so it’s good to have a leader or a principal who knows the concept and understands what needs to happen in order for the school to open,” he said.

Arriola cites Mendiola’s gung-ho approach to the middle school operations as one thing he is grateful for.

On the transition to a middle school overall, having been vice principal of the elementary school previously, Arriola embraces the change.

“I like this new paint, this new attitude, this new environment, it’s a good change,” he said.

Ruth Calvo, principal of Tanapag Middle School, said the school’s staff and teachers are “excited” and are following through on necessary preparation the new school year.

She said teachers are looking forward to the first week they are back.

The islands new middle schools are Dandan Middle School, Tanapag Middle School, and San Antonio Middle School, all which were elementary schools before this year.

Middle schools handle 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Junior high handles 7th and 8th grades only.