District High Schools Greet 1,200 Fresh Faces

Nikolas Mikolaski bobbed his way through the throngs of students at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School on a recent day, lugging his textbooks in a backpack because lockers for ninth-grade students hadn't arrived yet.

The 15-year-old dropped his heavy bag to the floor and sat down to lunch with a group of fellow freshman, displaying none of the sheepishness that sometimes accompanies being at the bottom of the high school totem pole. Better to be a lowly freshman, he said, than to have stayed another year in junior high.

"I like my teachers. I like my classes," he said. "It's awesome."

For the first time since the 1940s, the D.C. school system has shifted all ninth-graders to high schools and turned its eight junior high schools into middle schools, joining 12 middle schools already in existence. The move affects about 1,200 students.

The adjustment puts the District in the company of other Washington region school systems, such as those in Prince George's and Fairfax counties, which use the middle school model. If sixth-graders are shifted out of elementary schools in the 2008-09 school year as planned, all middle schools will have a full complement of sixth- to eighth-grade students.

Students and parents say they are excited about the transformation plan and optimistic it will lead to higher academic achievement.

Research shows that ninth grade is a critical educational juncture. It's when students leave a highly structured environment for the maze of high school, with more teachers, more homework and more independence, academically and socially. Students who don't adjust to the added responsibilities at that turning point are more likely to drop out.

To accommodate the ninth-graders, Wilson officials have put them in a wing decorated with international flags as a tribute to student diversity and a sign that reads "Freshman Academy." Lunch is one of the few times during the day when the younger students mix with older ones

All D.C. high schools have freshman academies, but they differ depending on the needs of the schools and its students, officials said. According to the city's Master Education Plan, the purpose of turning junior high schools into middle schools is to have students grouped together in age-appropriate environments.

"Ninth grade transition is a great way to introduce incoming ninth graders to the new graduation requirements as well as jumpstart their high school experience in an environment that focuses on college readiness," Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said in a statement.

Rhee is convening a task force to study the sixth-grade transition to middle school next year, spokeswoman Mafara Hobson said.

Numerous national foundations have been funding initiatives that focus on ninth-graders and the transition to high school.