Thousands of San Diego Unified School District students returned to their classrooms after summer break on Monday. At Bell Middle School, students picked up their class schedules and said goodbye to their parents.
Christopher Palmer said he was excited for his first day of sixth grade.
“I get to see my old friends,” he said.
The transition from elementary to middle school can be challenging. Those students deserve more attention from district leaders, said superintendent Fabiola Bagula.
“Their academics take a dip right when they enter middle school and also right when they enter high school,” she said. “They also have an increase of behavior issues.”
Bell Middle School has done a lot to support its students, Bagula said.
One example is the Wellness Center on campus. It’s a place where students can relax and talk to a trusted adult. Staff also refer families to community resources to help them find housing, food and clothing.
For some kids, it’s a place to go if they’re struggling at home, said coordinator Nereida Rivera.
“It's not so much the fault of the parent. That's just the situation they're in,” she said. “The parent has to work three jobs and sometimes this really is the only place that another adult can really sit down and really see who they are.”
Bagula said Marston Middle School in Clairemont is another model for the district. Teachers there offer courses during the advisory period.
“They've asked the teachers, 'what have you always wanted to teach? What do you love?'” Bagula said. “I saw things like yoga, the history of rock 'n' roll — those kinds of things that really interest a teacher. And then students get to select this course every six to eight weeks.”
She said it’s led to better attendance, less tardiness and fewer behavioral incidents at the school.
The district has also expanded middle school sports over the last four years. It’s helped kids act more maturely and responsibly, said Lonnie Jones, the district’s middle school sports coordinator .
“Our administrators say that campus culture at middle schools has changed,” he said. “Kids are now telling their friends, ‘Hey, throw your trash away. Hey, watch your language.’ Because they understand that playing sports and any afterschool activity is a privilege, not a right.”
Jones said high school sports participation is up 13% since the pandemic.
“A big part of that is middle school athletics and getting these kids back out of the house, getting them off their phones, getting them off those laptops,” he said.
This year is also the first with a district-wide cell phone policy. Students at Bell and other middle schools have to keep their phones turned off and stored away for the whole school day.
LaRon Lindsay said it won’t be a big change for his kids. They’re starting sixth and seventh grades at Bell after attending charter schools last year. Lindsay said it’s important for middle school parents to listen and learn from their kids.
“They have a lot of things going on,” he said. “They have the same issues that we do. We just need to be present.”
The new policy allows high school students to use their phones during lunch and passing periods.
