Wiscasset school officials heard support and some concerns, but no objections Feb. 16 to the sixth grade’s possible move to Wiscasset Middle High School.

Uniting the three middle school grades of sixth, seventh and eighth would better serve the state learning standards they share and be a better social-emotional fit for sixth graders than Wiscasset Elementary School is, according to WMHS Principal Peg Armstrong and Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot.

That prompted some parents to ask why sixth didn’t move when seventh and eighth did in fall 2015. They said it would have avoided another adjustment for all of WMHS’s grades next fall.

Some administrators recommended it but others raised concerns about space and potential public pushback, Curriculum Coordinator Pat Watts recalled. There was pushback, School Committee Chairman Michael Dunn said. That’s why just seventh and eighth were moved, he said.

If sixth comes to WMHS, it and seventh and eight will have a separate wing from nine through 12, Armstrong said. Interaction between middle and high school students will be limited through staggered times for class changes and other steps, she said. After seventh and eighth’s first year there in 2015-16, officials saw what didn’t work; this school year, their classes are shorter than the high school’s.

Students across the grades already know each other from school buses and living in town, School Committee member Jason Putnam said. So it won’t be a whole new world for them, he said about sixth graders. “It’s still Wiscasset.”

The turnout of about 20 included parents, staff and some who were both. Wilmot praised them all for coming. It showed their commitment to the schools and the students, she said. Officials said they’re involving staff in the planning and are fielding questions from them and students. 

Having 46 sixth graders at WMHS next school year would add to the cleaning and take some building changes such as a sink being added to make a room a lab, officials said. Wilmot doesn’t expect big costs. Department staff can do much of the work, she said.

WMHS alternative education teacher Kim Andersson has a son in sixth and a daughter in fifth. If sixth is at WMHS next year, she said, “I need to know she’s not going to be mixing with the older students.”

Kristen Whitmore’s son Tate is a WES fifth grader. A social worker at Bristol Consolidated School, Whitmore was glad a middle school wing was being discussed for WMHS. When looking at staffing needs, consider the supervision sixth graders will need, she said. “They’re wanting to be big kids ... but in a lot of ways they’re still little.”

Other attendees and officials also noted sixth graders may need more supervision boarding buses and walking to some of their classes. Sixth graders’ recess needs are also being looked at, since they need more movement during the day than older students, Armstrong said. She’s also a social worker, she said. “So the social and emotional needs are very important to me.”

WMHS guidance counselor Shaye Paradis has an eighth grader there and a fifth grader at WES. She predicted older students at WMHS will not like some of the changes. It’s not realistic to expect the high school students to stop using the lobby restrooms and only use other ones, she said.

The move will only happen if the department can make it work for students, Wilmot said. School committee members have voiced early support, but made no decision. That could come in March, Dunn said. Members said they want to make sure there’s enough feedback before they decide.