What Happens When Schools Move from Proximity to Partnership

By MindSpark

It happens for some people in middle school, and other people in high school or college, even in a career. Moving from one stage of life to another – often in a bigger space and with more people – can feel disorienting, even alienating. People, particularly young people, often feel lonely and adrift. 

The extent to which schools address these feelings has enormous implications, especially for students entering high school. Research shows that ninth-graders who are “on track” – attend school regularly, pass their classes, and earn high grades – are about four times more likely to graduate from high school.

As consequential as these transitions are, many school districts treat them as nonevents, just a blip of a development. Not surprisingly, lots of teenagers go on to struggle academically and report feeling disengaged. According to a recent Brookings survey of over 65,000 students in the U.S., only 26 percent of 10th graders say they love school, and only 39 percent of 10th graders say most of the time they feel they belong at school.

Until a few years ago, Johnson County School District in eastern Kentucky was treating students’ transitions as a spectator sport. Its middle school and its high school shared a parking lot, but that was all they shared. One school fed into the other, but the teachers and administrators at each did their own thing. 

Many of the students and staff at the middle school, for instance, were unaware that the high school offered more career pathways than any other school in Kentucky. Meanwhile, staff at the high school did little to facilitate middle school students’ transition, orienting them with only a paper map and a PowerPoint presentation.

Like many others across the country, the schools were sitting on powerful opportunities to collaborate and better support their students, but – despite their physical proximity – they were misaligned.

The Power of A Conversation

This dynamic started to shift in 2022, when MindSpark kicked off an Education Accelerator (EA) in the state thanks to support from the Siegel Family Foundation. MindSpark served as the convener and the facilitator; Johnson County was among eight districts asked to build a team of staff members and send them to Lexington once a month for seven months.

Noel Crum, the assistant superintendent, selected one educator from each of the district’s five elementary schools, middle school, and high school, and the group began traveling two hours each way for the MindSpark gatherings.

They began with a prompt: identify a workforce gap within your community. The Johnson County team quickly settled on the challenge of helping students find what they want to do before they go to college. Many of the educators on the team wanted to help students avoid spending unnecessary time and money on a professional pursuit, only to realize they weren’t actually interested in it.

The two-hour drive was onerous, but the distance from the hubbub of their day jobs proved to be a blessing in disguise, said Jarred Gibson, a freshman guidance counselor at the high school, and Jeremy Daniels, an assistant principal at the middle school, both of whom participated in the Education Accelerator.

“People who work in schools are so busy,” Gibson said. “Everyone has great ideas, but we never have the time to implement them. This opportunity gave us the time and the support and the accountability to actually move forward.”

MindSpark facilitated the whole process, asking the teams about their progress in between the monthly meetings and offering ideas and observations. As a result of connections formed during these meetings, Johnson County educators realized they were all working at cross purposes. 

The conversations sparked by the Accelerator helped surface that elementary school students were having trouble adjusting to the middle school’s larger building and enrollment. Middle school students were participating in career pathways that didn’t correspond to the ones offered at the high school. And high school students were enrolling in classes they didn’t really understand, leading to frequent schedule changes and fewer certificates and college credits earned.

From Problem Identified to Problem Solved

Thanks to MindSpark’s suggestion, the district surveyed its students and tapped into the nervousness and uncertainty many students were feeling. In response, the high school began holding an annual Opportunity Fair, a student-led event where middle school students can learn about each of the 32 career pathways the school offers. Students are also able to tour the building.

“Because of the tours and the opportunity to talk directly to other students, they’re going from having fear and anxiety to being excited about the pathways,” said Daniels. “Now kids talk all about the pathways, and we’re getting more enrollment from other counties than ever before.”

Sharing more information sooner is helping students make more informed decisions. Gibson, the 9th-grade counselor, said he’s encountering far fewer students who need schedule changes.

“Before, students were going into engineering pathways and coming to me saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t know it was all this math,’” he said. “Now a lot of the kids are getting into the right programs for them, which gives them a chance to earn certificates and up to 36 college credits before they graduate, all at no cost to them.”

There are less tangible benefits, too. “I have seen a huge decrease in anxiety from students transitioning from 8th-grade to 9th-grade,” Gibson said. “I deal with anxiety on the daily, and I have noticed a tremendous decrease in the last couple of years as students have a much more positive mindset going into high school. They’ve gone from being scared to being excited.”

In Johnson County, the EA achieved its purpose: the district is changing its systems, and students are getting far more robust support during critical transitions. As a result, students are acclimating to their new schools more successfully and taking fuller advantage of course offerings. After the session, Johnson County students’ participation rates in career-connected learning increased by 150 percent.

This particular Education Accelerator is long over, but the collaboration it fostered continues: Gibson, Daniels, and the rest of their team continues to meet each month.

“It’s just been transformative," Daniels said.

Learn more about MindSpark Education Accelerators