K-8 looks like a winner for pupils, families

One of the most innovative schools I visited during my years on the education beat was a K-8 elementary school in Utah's western desert. That year, 16 children attended Callao Elementary, one kindergartner, one eighth-grader and two student each in grades 1-7. The school had all the bells and whistles of better-heeled suburban schools — computers, integrated instruction and innovative teaching techniques. But with a student body of only 16 students to one teacher and two classroom assistants, there was no danger of any child falling through the cracks.

What impressed me most about the small school was the sense of continuity and self-discipline. The school was so small it did not have a school lunch program. The children were sent home for lunch and expected to return on time. And they did.

When I read Deseret Morning News education reporter Tiffany Erickson's report last week that the Salt Lake City School District was exploring the concept of K-8 elementary schools, I got excited about all of the possibilities and the positive aspects of educating students in the same school for nine years.

Any parent will attest to the household chaos that ensues when children attend different schools. Parents whose elementary school-age children are in year-round school have to become master schedulers once the older children are in secondary school. The school breaks don't always jibe, which can put a crimp in family vacation plans, let alone complicate child-care arrangements for working parents.

What if, instead of Johnny and Janie attending elementary school and older sister Sally going to junior high, if all students stayed in the same school until the end of eighth grade? For nine years, at least, everyone would be on the same page schedulewise. Just thinking about it has lowered my blood pressure by several points.

Not only would there be many advantages for parents and families, a body of education research suggests that K-8 schools can be winners for students and academic achievement.

First, students can count on going to a single school from kindergarten until ninth grade. No awkward transitions into junior high. Instead, students go to school with the same peers through the eighth grade. What could give students a greater sense of security? What would give educators a similar sense of students' educational history?

There's a lot of research that supports this concept. Some studies show that students who attend K-8 elementary schools have higher standardized test scores than their middle school or junior high peers. A higher percentage of students who attended K-8 schools were admitted to select high schools than their junior high peers.