By MICHAEL BUSHNELL
Northeast News
November 20, 2013

Dr. Cynthia Johnson is the living embodiment of enthusiasm for good education. She exudes it with every word she speaks and breath she takes. So when only 20 or so parents and students showed up at the Sheffield Family Life Center for an introductory meeting sponsored by the Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) to re-introduce the middle school concept to area parents and students, Johnson was not depressed or deterred. It’s exactly the kind of infectious enthusiasm about education KCPS needs after learning it would not receive provisional accreditation from the state.

“One of you will tell another,” she said. “We’ll build the excitement one parent and one student at a time.”

And so it went for the rest of the evening as the old junior high school concept was replaced by an exciting new middle school learning concept that will be housed in the old Northeast Jr. High building starting with the 2014-2015 school term.

The new mascot for the school was introduced as well, voted on by the current crop of sixth graders that will attend the new Northeast Middle School next year. Sporting purple and yellow and resembling a Roman Centurion, the Northeast Middle School Titans will officially become part of the area fabric next year.  

“We wanted to pay homage to the rich heritage of the Northeast Vikings that will celebrate their centennial next year,” said Johnson.

Upon their opening in September, the district’s two new middle echools (Northeast and Central) will be populated by only seventh graders. When those students advance, seventh and eighth graders will be housed at the school. The curriculum will incorporate learning neighborhoods in both of the “new” middle schools. Teams of 100 to 120 students will be color coded and will be taught in 70 to 90-minute learning blocks of core classes such as math, English, social studies and science. Each school neighborhood will have its own special education coordinator and social worker as well to address the needs of the at risk or special needs students.

“This is a whole new way of looking at the education process,” Johnson said.

Construction at both Northeast and Central Middle Schools is already under way. Both schools are slated for completion by this summer, just in time for the beginning of the school term. Teacher and staff hiring has already begun internally. Each school, when fully staffed, will employ roughly 60 certified and non-certified staff members.