Posted by JLS parent, a member of the JLS Middle School community, on Jun 21, 2011 at 5:21 pm

Since you only have one more year of elementary school, I think it is much more important to start thinking about how your child will fit into middle school rather than just one year at Ohlone. The adjustment to Ohlone may take longer than you expect, making new friends, having two grades in one classroom, etc.

You might like to start looking into the Connections program at JLS and start thinking about whether that may be a good middle school fit.

Posted by OhlonePar, a member of the Ohlone School community, on Jun 21, 2011 at 5:59 pm

Unless your child is really, really unhappy--no.

Keep in mind that because the classrooms are mixed that the other fifth-graders in the class will have already been together for a year. While Ohlone kids are fairly open as a group, a lot of social dynamics will already be in place. So, a fourth-grade transfer, yes, but not a fifth-grade transfer. Also, some of the curriculum, as a result, is done on alternating years--i.e. the 4/5s all do California history one year and all do US history the other year.

Also, a lot of the older classes will be physically moving into the new behemoth--so more upheaval than usual.

I agree about the Connections suggestion by JLS parent.

Posted by 5thGraderParent, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 22, 2011 at 8:06 am

Thank you, JLS parent and OhlonePar, for your opinions. I didn't really want to put him in a new school for just one year if it didn't seem to be worth it. I will look into Connections at JLS for the future.