Truro's public school district is determined to offer sixth grade, no matter how few students sign up.
This year, just two students attend sixth grade at Truro Central School.
The students are good friends and get lots of attention from their teacher. But not all Outer Cape families want this type of classroom experience for their children.
That's according to the Provincetown Independent.
CAI's Gilda Geist spoke with news editor Paul Benson to learn more.
Gilda Geist We've known for years that student enrollment has been declining across Cape Cod, but just two sixth graders attending public school in Truro? How did that happen?
Paul Benson Sixth grade in Truro is kind of a special case. The elementary school has offered a sixth grade for years, but a lot of times students wind up going to Nauset Regional Middle School, where there are sixth, seventh and eighth grades, and they feel like they can get a jumpstart on the friends and the large social circle. There're a lot more kids at Nauset Regional Middle school, so historically, many of Truro's fifth graders have chosen to go there. However, the town wants to offer sixth grade. It believes in the program. It also saves a lot of money by having a sixth grade available and having those fifth graders be making school choice to choose sixth grade as a regional middle school instead of being tuition students. It costs, like, five times as much to not offer sixth grade and have those students be tuitioned in to Nauset Regional. So, there's a lot of reasons for the town to choose to offer sixth grade, whether or not anybody signs up for it.
GG I imagine there must be benefits and drawbacks to having such a small class from a student's standpoint. So, let's start with the benefits.
PB Right, so parents talked about a lot of individual attention. They said their kids made real progress in math and reading. The program involves a lot of field trips and experiential learning. They ride a van they call the Great White all around Cape Cod, all the way out to the canal, to places in Brewster and Eastham. And in the course of that, the teacher makes a real effort to turn these field trips into experiential learning that's reinforcing the math and reading and other things that they're learning in the classroom.
GG I think a lot of people who encounter this story will be wondering kind of how those two sixth graders get along. What did you guys find from talking to the students and their families?
PB It was really interesting. So, Nora Valero and Spencer Cavanaugh both transferred into Truro Central School in third grade. They're really good friends. It was evident to our reporter from the way they interacted, from things they said, that the two kids were very close. While some of the other fifth graders wound up choosing to go to Nauset Regional, they chose to stay. They apparently enjoy learning together. Their parents did say it would be nice if there was another girl in the class [and] it would be nice if there's another boy in the classroom. There's social situations that don't come up when there's only two of you, and some parents were worried about that. But the kids did seem to be enjoying themselves and those two definitely enjoyed each other on the field trips and other places that our reporter and photographer were able to ride along and witness.
GG You mentioned the social aspect. What are the drawbacks of being in a class of two? Is there concern that it might be harder for students to adjust to seventh grade after such a unique classroom experience?
PB So that was a concern. Our reporter, Lauren Hakimi, talked to all of the families in sixth grade. At one point there were three in the middle of the first semester—Leif Saudade transferred in from Provincetown. Our reporter noticed that he sort of had the mannerisms of a college professor—you now, really wise and mature for his age, advanced diction, funny expressions that made adults laugh [but] didn't necessarily always make his fellow sixth graders laugh. Leif didn't seem to mind. He did say he didn't really have friends there, but he also got a lot more attention from the teacher and he didn't really mind. He also wound up transferring out in January to a charter school that did offer seventh and eighth grade, and his mom said that getting a jump start on those grades was part of the reason. So yes, there are students for whom being able to get a jumpstart on next year's social situation and all the other aspects of schooling did feel like a reason to make a move.
GG What is the outlook here? Is Truro Central School determined to keep offering sixth grade even with such low numbers?
PB So, they've set it as a policy goal. They told our reporter Lauren, and it's in their meeting minutes, that even if only one student signs up, they're going run the sixth grade. A former school committee chair said he didn't really think that was in the best interest of the student. The current school committee chairs said, listen, I wouldn't be standing behind this if it wasn't a thousand percent amazing, and it's a great experience for the kids. And she plans to send her kids to sixth grade when it happens. So, there is some disagreement in Truro about what it means to run a program that could be as small as one kid. Next year, there are two already committed and there's a pool of eight fifth graders, plus they can get school choice students from Provincetown and Wellfleet. It's not clear how many sixth graders there will be next year. But right now, the number that they're working with is two commitments and shooting for more.
