By Lindsay VanHulle
TRAVERSE CITY -- Traverse City's two junior high schools could be known by different names next year.
Administrators in Traverse City Area Public Schools are proposing name changes at East and West junior high schools to reflect upcoming changes to the district's grade configuration.
Renaming the buildings, which requires school board approval, would create East Middle School and West Middle School.
Board members intend to discuss the proposals at their next policy committee meeting, which will be scheduled Monday at the board's 2008 organizational meeting. If approved, it then will go before the full board.
TCAPS sixth graders will move into middle schools and ninth graders will move into high schools as part of a larger, districtwide restructuring effort that also includes closing three elementary schools and moving to a trimester schedule.
"A junior high, typically by definition, includes ninth grade," said Glenn Solowiej, principal at East Junior High. "When we lose our ninth graders to high school, we won't have any on campus. ... It will be the perfect opportunity to establish an identity."
Associate Superintendent Jayne Mohr said it is "conceivable" that the change could be in place by the start of classes next September.
If the full board approves renaming the schools, administrators could proceed with replacing printed materials, Mohr said.
In addition to the name changes, Solowiej said, staff at East are working to implement other middle school ideas, such as assigning sixth graders to teams of four teachers in the core subjects and offering intramural sports programs.
"There are going to be some elements of this school that are different," Solowiej said. "It's a little more focused approach that I think is most appropriate for our youngest students."
