Following years of deliberation and debate, the School Committee convened a Blue Ribbon Commission on Middle Grades Education to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Cambridge’s existing school structure and consider alternative models that might better serve the educational needs of all CPS students. The Commission issued its report in June 2008 but stopped short of a specific recommendation either to retain the current K-8 structure or to change it to a different model. Shortly after being appointed in July 2009, Superintendent Jeff Young was assigned the task of bringing forth a recommendation on the question by April 2010.

With due respect for the many reports, forums, questionnaires and other data-collection tools that were used in past years to gather input from stakeholders on this important topic, Dr. Young and his administrative team set out during the current school year to re-connect with faculty/staff, families and citizens, and other interested parties to learn more about the community’s current thinking about how best to educate students in the 11-14 year-old age range.

For a guiding principle, Dr. Young asked people to think about the question “What do students in this age range need in their education—to help them develop as individuals and to prepare them for the next phase of their formal schooling?” Rather than conduct a potentially rancorous debate about whether Cambridge should have K-8 or K-5 schools, we sought to elevate the dialogue so that we could define the problems we are trying to solve and explore the opportunities and options for doing so.