Distinguished Middle School & High School

Middle school is a time of transition for every student. Providing an environment for pre-teens to comfortably learn and interact is essential. The proposed bond projects at the Pinecrest campus would create a new corridor structure for 6th-8th grade classrooms with age-appropriate amenities.

Children grow the capacity for more connections and community as they mature. This results in a larger ideal range for student populations, with 6th-8th grade thriving among 125-200 peers. Currently, the entire middle school population of over 500 students is dispersed across the 2nd and 3rd floors, occasionally intersecting with high school students. The bond proposal would achieve this ideal scale for student learning and reduce the social pressure of mixed grade-levels in the following ways:

• Dedicated Middle School corridors

• Grade-level neighborhoods

• Improvements & modernizations to every classroom in the entire building

Through grade-level neighborhoods and a dedicated middle school corridor, Ferndale Middle School students can experience the optimal population range for their developmental age.

FMS students transition between classrooms, often sharing corridors with high school students. To reduce anxiety and social pressures at this critical stage of development, the proposed bond project would clarify the distinction between Middle & High School spaces.

Neighborhood Environments

Limiting interactions across grade levels is a proven strategy for reducing social pressure and increasing self-confidence for any age range. This can be achieved by grouping classrooms and shared spaces into 6th, 7th, and 8th grade neighborhoods where students spend most of their day. We've centered the new Ferndale Lower Elementary similarly through K, 1, and 2 neighborhoods where students interact and thrive. Continuing this transformational work of the 2020 bond projects, we have similar improvements planned at the Ferndale Middle School corridor. By designing intentional learning environments that foster meaningful interactions, we can actively support students' physical and emotional well-being.

Safety Enhancements

Secure environments continue to be a priority, as they were in 2020 bond improvements. The entryway location would be the same with increased security made possible by a secure vestibule, as we have constructed at Early Childhood and Elementary buildings. The new office space would provide the amenities parents and visitors need without access to student spaces.

Common areas, grouped classrooms, and visual cues like color palettes can all be used to establish a cohesive grade-level neighborhood as part of middle schools bond improvements.

Common areas, grouped classrooms, and visual cues like color pallettes can all be used to establish a cohesive grade-level neighborhood as part of middle schools bond improvements.

Making Distinctions

Ferndale Middle School students are encouraged to experience music, drama, robotics, advanced STEAM courses, and athletics to explore their interests and identity. These opportunities are supported by proximity to Ferndale High School, and those benefits will only increase with improvements to every classroom on campus. However, construction plans would establish more consistent separation between middle and high school students.

One planned improvement would relocate the Middle School band room adjacent to the FMS gym, while increasing its scale for student safety. While Middle School students would also retain access to shared spaces—including the auditorium, cafeteria, and courtyard—they would continue to utilize these spaces at separate times from high school students.

All of these improvements would bring Ferndale Middle School & Ferndale High School environments inline with Ferndale’s preschool, elementary, and other high schools—child-centered, age-appropriate learning spaces that empower our students to succeed.