Rodgers Forge fourth-graders: on the move
The first of several meetings on the plan to move Rodgers Forge Elementary’s fourth-graders to Dumbarton Middle for the 2009-2010 school year is tonight at 7 p.m. at the elementary school.
Why move fourth-graders, as opposed to another class? Rodgers Forge Principal Susan Deise offered several reasons. School officials eliminated students who wouldn’t fit in the "general setting" at Dumbarton. For example, kindergartners couldn’t go because they can’t be on the second floor. And then they also had to consider whether the kids could reach the lockers designed for middle-schoolers.
Officials – and parents – didn’t want fifth-graders robbed of the perks of their final year: the clubs, concerts, field trips and special events that "culminate the elementary experience." Fifth-graders also get to do safety patrol.
Fourth-graders were a good fit for the space available at Dumbarton. They will need five classrooms – which is exactly how many the middle school is offering, Deise said.
"We really care about the children and we wanted to do what was fair, what was best and what made sense," she said.
Deise also told me the teachers who’ll be moving to Dumbarton with the kids this fall were hand-picked and have already responded with a lot of creativity and support in preparation for the next school year.
