Volunteers needed to help North Thurston plan for grade 6-8 middle schools

North Thurston Public Schools is looking for volunteers to serve on its Middle School Transition Advisory Committee.

The district’s three traditional middle schools –- Chinook, Nisqually and Komachin -- currently serve students in seventh and eighth grades. Sixth-graders have attended Aspire Middle School, the district’s magnet school for the performing arts, since it opened in 2009.

But eventually, the district plans to move sixth-graders out all of its elementary schools. Part of that plan includes a proposed new middle school that would be built if a future construction bond measure is approved by voters.

Anybody who lives in the 14,000-student district is welcome to apply for the committee, which is slated to meet on Feb. 12, April 18 and June 20. Applications are due Jan. 15.

“Our main goal is to get honesty back from them on our proposals for what 6-8 middle school will look like, as well as the timeline for the transition,” district spokeswoman Courtney Schrieve said. “It’s not the question of ‘Are we doing 6-8 middle school?’ it’s ‘How will we do it?’”

A grade 6-8 middle school model is already used in the Olympia School District, and the Tumwater School Board recently approved a plan to move its sixth-graders into middle school, as well.

For more information on North Thurston’s transition advisory committee, call 360-412-4598 or go to www.nthurston.k12.wa.us.