BLANCHARD STUDENTS LIKE OLD, NEW LIFESTYLES

Blanchard Elementary School upperclassmen are looking forward to Jan. 18, the day their school is scheduled to open. But some students said they have mixed feelings about their departure from May Greene Elementary School, where fifth- and sixth-graders have attended classes all year.

"I liked it and then I didn't like it, because I was used to having all the different little grades beneath us," said David Ray, 12. "The advantage over here is I get to be with all my friends."

Ray and other older elementary students have matured greatly since the fall, said Blanchard principal Barbara Kohlfeld. Due to construction delays, the school district was unable to open Blanchard as planned in the fall. Instead, May Greene and Washington schools, which are scheduled for closure, were kept open, and Blanchard students were divided between the two buildings.

Kohlfeld said she has noticed the maturity in fourth-graders, who are the oldest students at Washington School. "Whoever is the oldest class takes on that mantle," she said. "I think they've all shown wonderful maturity and good social skills."

Students at May Greene said they have enjoyed being "by themselves" and away from "the little kids." The dual-grade center allowed students to get to know each other better, and they were able to enjoy schoolwide activities like Student Council without having to hear instructions repeated "over and over again."

"Student Council was more fun because it was easier to hear the directions and get things done," said Shanelle Johnson, 11. "Teachers only had to say things once or twice instead of over and over again."

Sierra Shultz, 11, liked the fact that school has been a much quieter place this year. "They've got a lot of energy and they get real rambunctious," she said. "It's like there's no such thing as an inside voice."

Teachers also saw real advantages to the separation of grade levels. For example, it was easier to departmentalize classes and allow teachers to lead subject areas they were more knowledgeable in, they said. They also appreciated the changes they saw in students.

"The good is we let them know we had greater expectations of them. We gave them that goal and they met it," said Teresa Givens, a sixth-grade teacher.

Although they liked being in their own building, the students said they miss the younger students. Several students said they had younger relatives they were unable to "check up on" because they were attending classes at Washington.

"I don't like it because my little niece isn't here and I can't watch out for her," said Shultz. "I can't make sure she's doing OK and help with her homework."

Savanna Hull, 10, said younger students always look up to older students. That's why it's important for the older kids to be on their best behavior, she said.

"We have to watch what we do because they're always watching us," she said. "

Trenton Moore, 12, said he misses his younger relatives but believes others at the school are taking care of them for him. "I kind of look up to the fourth-graders because they're doing everything over there we aint doing because we're here."

Ray's concern was more for the classroom interaction he had formerly with younger students. For example, he said he enjoyed being in fifth grade largely because his class read to younger students every week.

"I miss reading to them," he said. "The smaller kids would watch us, and we'd have a big influence on them."

Although the grade configurations are a little ahead of their time, Kohlfeld said she sees some advantages to dividing the grade levels. The impromptu pilot programs are proof that the district's master plan to convert the district's five elementary schools to house kindergarten through fourth grades and to house fifth- and sixth-graders at the current junior high school is a sound one.

The district must win voter approval of an $18 million bond issue to fund construction of a new high school to accomplish those changes.