We are pleased to offer the FAQ's below regarding grade 7-8 transition, which will be posted to our scheduling website and emailed home to all middle school families as well.
FAQ for Grade 7-8
Click on the links below to navigate to that question:
1. Grade 8 Schedule:
Q: What would a typical Grade 8 schedule look like?
A: Here are a couple options:
Course
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Option A
|
Option B
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Option C
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English
|
Grade 8 ELA
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Grade 8 ELA
|
Grade 8 ELA
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Mathematics
|
Grade 8 Math (Pre-algebra)
|
Algebra I
|
Algebra I
|
Science
|
Grade 8 Science
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Grade 8 Science
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Grade 8 Science
|
Social Studies
|
World History I (Grade 8 History)
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World History I (Grade 8 History)
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World History I (Grade 8 History)
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Wellness
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Wellness/Guidance
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Wellness/Guidance
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Wellness/Guidance
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Elective
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Introduction to Engineering Design
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Sem 1: Intro to Art
Sem 2: Music & Society
|
Spanish I
|
Elective
|
Spanish I
|
Spanish I
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Concert Band
|
2. Core courses
Q. What courses must the grade 8 student enroll in?
A: Five full periods, which meet daily, all year:
- English,
- Mathematics,
- Science,
- Social studies,
- Wellness/guidance seminar
3. Elective Courses
Q: What are the electives open to a grade 8 student?
A: Full year:
- Band
- Chorus
- Introduction to Engineering Design
- Spanish I
Half-year:
- Introduction to Foods and Nutrition
- Introduction to Art
- Introduction to Filmmaking and Video
- Music and Society
- Drumming
- Basic Guitar
- Graphic Design I.
4. Advanced Courses at UHS
Q: Can a grade 8 student “opt up” into a more advanced class?
A:
- Generally, this will be a decision made in consultation with the student’s counselor and the individual department.
- Middle school students who have not met a course prerequisite will not be permitted to enroll in an advanced course.
5. Athletics at UHS
Q: How will sports be structured?
A: In general, eighth graders will participate in high school sports. Currently, grade 8 students participate in high school sports in a number of sports - soccer, golf, tennis, cross country, to name a few. We will be expanding to include freshman sports in basketball, baseball, and other sports as needed.
In some sports, grade 8 students may compete at the varsity level. Coaches will make those determinations based on the skill, ability, and physical readiness of the individual student-athlete.
For football, our grade 8 students will play a middle school schedule, which will operate as a “level three” for our football program. That will allow seventh graders to continue to participate and even some grade 9 students who are ill prepared for a junior varsity game to participate more frequently. The bulk of the traditional high school students will compete at the JV and varsity levels.
6. Extracurricular Activities at UHS
Q: Will grade 8 students be able to attend the same school functions and events, like dances?
A: We will include grade 8 for all school functions and events. We also intend on holding some class meetings to see what (or if) grade 8 students wish to hold events for themselves.
7. Impact on Applications to Other High Schools
Q: How will being at UHS in grade 8 impact potential applications to another high school, like Valley Tech or a private high school?
A: It will not impact applications at all. Students who wish to apply to other schools may do so, and the grade 8 report card will be included as part of that application.
The building tour and presentation will be likely scheduled on a UHS half-day to prevent disruption to the academic schedule.
8. Academic Requirements at UHS
Q: Will grade 8 students have similar academic requirements (i.e. midterms, exams, etc.)?
A: While they cannot be isolated in the physical plant of the building, the plan would be for grade 8 students to have academic criteria assessed as if they were in grade 8 core classes, regardless of the physical plant. We would tend to have grade 8 students have similar common assessments if the class were the same as a high school course, such Spanish I or Algebra I.
Grade 8 students will be assessed on progress toward meeting our schoolwide learning expectations, be graded on a similar calendar, and meet similar requirements in elective courses, which tend to have project-based assessments at the conclusion of the course, not exams. The schoolwide learning expectations and rubrics articulate habits and skills that we believe are important toward achieving student learning over the course of their time at UHS, and different departments are responsible for reporting on progress toward meeting them.
Our exam structure is modeled after MCAS and College Board testing conditions, which simply means that grade 8 students who do take a summative exam at the end of a course will have extra practice in those conditions.
9. Academic Prerequisites
Q: How do courses taken at UHS in grade 8 work in terms of grade 9 coursework?
A: A student who takes Algebra I or Spanish I in grade 8 has options in grade 9:
Use Algebra I to place into Geometry or Algebra II, or re-take Algebra I
Use Spanish I to place into Spanish II, or re-take Spanish I.
Courses that are taken in grade 8 do not satisfy graduation or college application requirements. So a student who takes Spanish I in grade 8 would still need Spanish II and Spanish III in high school to satisfy his/her 2-year college application requirement in world language - but, his/her transcript would be stronger and comparable to the 90+% of districts who offer middle school world language.
10. Impact on Upperclassmen
Q: What happens to upperclassmen in electives if grade 8 students are included? Will class sizes change? Who has priority?
A: Some of the electives at UHS have seats available in them (for example, a class of 21 or 22 can reasonably hold another 5-6 students). Other electives that are popular with grade 8 students, such as band and chorus, have no cap on them, and will be able to enroll many of the students. In addition, current middle school elective teachers may transition to UHS to accommodate the grade 8 students in the electives, again based on licensure and course demand.
School administration will be working with counselors and teacher leaders to ensure that adequate seats are available for all students without a negative effect to the overall schedule.
11. Student Handbook
Q: Will grade 8 students be held to the same standards and accountability as high school students?
A: Grade 8 standards are always to prepare students for high school expectations, but course credit and graduation requirements will not be in effect until Grade 9. Students will have a consistent Student Handbook grades 8-12 in terms of behavioral expectations.
12. Differences Between Schedules
Q: What are the biggest differences between the current middle school schedule and the grade 8 schedule at the high school?
A: Students at UHS will follow the same schedule pattern as the high schoolers. In the middle school, students enroll in 6 classes per day, while UHS runs a schedule that is 7 classes, 6 meeting per day. Some classes meet for the full year, typically core courses, while some electives will meet for a half year. For some students, moving from six to seven classes can be challenging, but that is the norm in many, many schools across the state, so getting an opportunity to start that a year earlier will only benefit our students as they enter the traditional 9-12 high school years.
