Knight Prep could add sixth grade in fall
LANCASTER — The Academies of the Antelope Valley could add a sixthgrade level at Knight Preparatory beginning with the 2021-22 academic year.
The Academies of the Antelope Valley is a dependent charter of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. There are four schools within the charter school — the Virtual Academy and the Knight, Palmdale and SOAR preparatory academies.
AV Union High School District’s Board of Education held a public hearing Monday to determine the level of support for the proposed material revision.
A presentation at the Feb. 24 Board meeting by Knight Prep teacher James Stockdale detailed the success of the class of seventh-grade students who attended Knight Preparatory Academy in its first year and continued on to Knight High School’s award-winning Digital Design and Engineering Academy. One-hundred percent of those students will go to college, join the military or attend a trade school after they graduate this year.
The goal in adding a sixth
grade is to provide better continuity of learning for students. The addition of a sixth grade level would also put the academy in alignment with the shift to sixththrough eighth-grade middle school programs from seventh- and eighth-grade junior highs across the state.
The Board asked District staff at the March 10 meeting to look into a proposed material revision in order to bring sixth grade to the Academies of the Antelope Valley.
Knight Prep Academy would likely be the first to add a sixth grade. There is enough room at the campus to add two classes, for up to 60 sixth graders, although the actual number depends on student enrollment.
A parent who submitted a comment in favor of the proposed revision, said his student who is now a high school junior, attended seventh and eighth grade at the prep academy.
“Getting him a solid start at the junior high was a huge step for him but it wasn’t easy,” the parent wrote to encourage the Board to add a sixth grade to the academy. “It was a big decision for us to have him go to one school for fifth grade, another for sixth grade and yet another for seventh grade. I’m glad we did it, although we have no bad feelings about his other schools. It unnecessarily hard for him.”
Another comment from the parent of a future sixth grader encouraged the Board to approve the material revision.
“I have had my eye on K-Prep for years and would love for my kids to attend,” the parent wrote. “I believe the smaller school environment would be perfect for my future sixth-grader. I appreciate the opportunities that this school can provide. The hands-on learning style and project-based learning that K-Prep provides will be a great way to help him recover from a year of virtual instruction.”
Stockdale, who serves as co-coordinator of Knight High School’s award-winning Digital Design and Engineering Academy, was one of several Knight Prep educators who submitted a comment in support of the proposed material revision.
“Our middle school programs have shown fantastic statistical success with our students who are now graduating high school and these revisions will only allow for us to build on that success,” he wrote.
Knight Prep Academy teacher Bridget Howitt said in comments submitted to the Board, that she was excited about the prospect of adding sixth grade to the campus.
“This will allow us the opportunity to fully instruct this group in effective reading and writing skills and better prepare them for high school,” she said.
Howitt, a former co-coordinator of the Digital Design and Engineering Academy at Knight High, added she “relished the idea of getting students into our K-Prep makerspace sooner and truly building excitement to join the very successful high school program.”
Trish White, a math teacher at Knight Prep, also expressed excitement at the prospect of adding sixth grade to the academy.
“As a math teacher, I see far too many students enter junior high with negative feelings toward mathematics,” she said. “By including sixth graders in our KPA family, it is our goal to attack this head on with positive intervention strategies throughout the three years they are with us. Having this continuity at such an impactful age will be extremely beneficial to our students,”
Other Knight Prep Academy educators supported the proposal.
Resource specialist Anastasia Gohari wrote in to say that adding sixth grade would be a great idea to provide students an opportunity to experience the span of sixth through eighth grade in a small, project-based learning community setting.
“As an eduction specialist with over 20 years of service, I would like to note that the full inclusion model of service for students with exceptional needs is considered to be one of the best practices in the field of special education,” Gohari wrote.
Chari Copeland, a science and engineering teacher at Knight Prep said that adding sixth grade would provide students an even earlier start with project-based learning, design and modeling, makerspace and tool skills, and 3D printing.
“Expanding learning of all of these skills and use of daily group and collaboration strategies will build in the consistency of learning in sixth through eighth, which will be a great benefit for our students and the families in our community,” Copeland wrote.