District readies Stockport as middle school building

STOCKPORT ? Although the Stockport Elementary Center is a fairly new structure, it is getting a facelift to become the Van Buren Middle School.

During the past few weeks, new middle school principal Chuck Banks and his staff have been getting the school ready for when students arrive in August.

Little things, like changing the ?feel? of the entrance. And big things, like an improved online presence.

?We?re doing the things we need to do so that when the kids come this fall, it will be their middle school,? said Banks. ?We want them to take ownership of the education they receive.?

Banks said the maintenance staff has been busy setting up Stockport as a middle school, and the information technology staff has been hooking up the center to allow an online grading system that parents can acces.

?We want to use the Internet and our Web site to communicate better with parents,? Banks said.

Several teachers plan to be at the school in late July helping set up.

?They don?t have to, but they want to,? he said. ?It says a lot for our teachers.?

According to Banks, the staff at the middle school is ?a good mix of veterans and younger teachers.?

Earlier this year, the Van Buren Community School District Board of Directors reconfigured grades at the three attendance centers. Now, kindergartners through fifth graders will go to school in Douds, sixth- through eighth-graders will be at Stockport, and high school students will be at Keosauqua. Previously, both the Stockport and Douds sites were used as elementary schools, and the Keosauqua school housed sixth through 12th graders.

The new configuration allows ?class sizes to be ideal,? said Banks. ?Sixth grade will have two secions, both 24 to 25. There will be three sections for seventh and eighth graders, around 17 or 18 per class.?

Banks also likes going to a seven-period day, down from eight.

?With eight periods, classes were 46 minutes, and with seven, it is 55. It doesn?t seem like much, but nine minutes over time do make a difference,? he said.

The longer class times will ?give students more hands-on activities.?

For the complete article, see the Monday, June 29, 2009, Fairfield Ledger.