FORT SMITH, Ark. — The 2021-2022 school year will look a little different for Fort Smith Public Schools.
The junior highs will change to middle schools this August. Junior highs currently house seventh, eighth and ninth graders but once they switch to middle schools, they will house sixth, seventh and eighth graders and ninth graders will go to freshmen centers at the high schools.
“Everything I’ve read on it is all positive. A middle school curriculum versus a junior high curriculum I think is going to be better for my kids,” Kirby Cockrum, parent to a Fort Smith Schools student, said.
Kirby Cockrum has a son getting ready to go into ninth grade and triplets going into seventh grade.
“With my oldest son going to the ninth-grade center, it will open up a lot of possibilities for him. It will be a little bit of a transition going to the high school campus, but all together, it’s going to be a positive event.”
The reconfiguring of grades is part of the Fort Smith Public Schools vision 2023 strategic plan, which comes after discussions within the community and a lot of planning to get to this point.
“We are very excited about the opportunities we are going to be able to offer our students from the exploratory classes at the middle schools to all the additional electives that will be available to ninth-grade students now in Fort Smith,” Ginni McDonald said.
Both high schools will have freshmen centers for ninth graders where they take their core classes, and then they will take electives with the rest of the grades.
Ginni McDonald, Director of Secondary Education, says they hope to have activities for students affected by this change over the summer to help them make a smooth transition.
“Transitioning to a new school is a change for both the student and the family, so as we learn and plan these activities, parents can look out for communication from the district, and certainly, we are always here to answer any questions parents may have,” she said.
With the moving of ninth grade to the high schools, it means ninth-grade athletics will also move. Both high schools will now have ninth-grade, junior varsity and varsity teams.