KALONA

The Kalona-area community has asked about and wondered if a middle school program could work at Hillcrest Academy for a very long time, dating back to when Hillcrest was named Iowa Mennonite School. The addition of a middle school was even entertained by the school board as recently as 2020, but to no avail.

Something changed in the last two years, and the community no longer needs to ask for or wonder if a middle school could work, because it does.

Hillcrest just concluded their first year of offering sixth grade, and it was deemed a success.

“I am so thrilled with the growth through the year that the sixth graders have made,” Hillcrest Academy’s Principal Dwight Gingerich said. “It's been a lot of fun to have the energy of the sixth graders in our building. To think about how that will translate to over a number of years, I think it's going to be a lot of fun and inspiring to see to see that growth.”

The 2023-24 school year was just step one of a larger plan. Next school year, Hillcrest will feature a fully-realized middle school, with not just sixth grade, but seventh and eighth as well.

The middle-schoolers next school year will have full access to numerous extracurriculars, a range of different classes, chapel – as they did this year – and more.

But why did Hillcrest introduce sixth grade by itself before bringing in the other middle school grades right away?

Numerous factors such as integration, staffing, culture and extracurriculars factored into why Hillcrest went with the stepped approach.

It also allowed the two sixth grade teachers, Beth Swantz – a 35 year teaching veteran who just concluded her first year at Hillcrest and her first year teaching in 15 years – and Megan Walsh – a teaching newbie who just finished her first year of teaching, period – to develop a curriculum and culture that works, while building a deeper connection with one another.

“She's Batman, I'm Robin,” Walsh said with a laugh.

Walsh and Swantz also shouted out Sheri Martin, a full-time assistant who has helped with the sixth-grade class, taking up duties like monitoring recess and being a leadership voice.

“[Martin is] the cog that keeps us going,” Walsh concluded.

Now, this fresh team has an opportunity to broaden their scope next school year by utilizing the soon-to-be seventh graders who will be wedged in between the new sixth and eighth grade classes.

“I think that our [sixth graders] have felt like they're a part of something new, and that's exciting for them,” Swantz said. “They're the ones that that have started this process and now they can bring along the older kids and the younger kids to be a part of it.”

Since this school year was transitional, the sixth graders didn’t spend too much effort integrating into the school at large.

“The gap between sixth and ninth grade is pretty big. [We have not] integrated a whole lot, other than existing in the same space and being a part of the choir program, [for example],” Swantz said. “We always felt very welcome, but we chose to keep ourselves down here in our own little world for a lot of the time, for different reasons.”

Next school year, an effort to change this will be in place.

“I don't feel like the job is done; this [was] just step one. Having the seventh and eighth grade [is] when it'll feel more like the whole picture,” Swantz said.

“Because our teachers are going to be teaching both middle school and high school, we'll see more connections that way. I think that there will be options for students to cross pollinate in different ways [as well],” Swantz added in regard to the middle schoolers integrating with the high schoolers.

Swantz, who is changing roles to become the Middle School Director next school year, hopes to use her additional role as librarian to create a safe space in the library for students of all ages to further help the integration process.

And down the road, the middle school program will no longer be in transition: it will be tradition.

“Currently, [our students] come from a lot of different places, and so to have that opportunity to have them all together, working from sixth grade on, can only help develop a sense of unity and a culture that that we really want to achieve here,” Gingerich said.

What sparked change so rapidly?

“In the fall [or summer] of 2022, [a middle school program] began to gain a lot of support. A middle school committee then developed,” Gingerich said. “That combination of the board and the administrative team worked really hard at looking into if this could be a reality. Once the decision was made to move forward, it didn't take a lot of time for it to happen.”

The move was backed with immense community support.

“We had a wish list posted last summer, and people responded well. We had to get some equipment, some new tables and desks that would be appropriate for that age group,” Gingerich said. “We had a lot of support from the community with funds, and we had a significant donation from an anonymous couple that really helped us get it off the ground. That was significant.”

When enrollment did eventually open, the sixth-grade class quickly filled, showing there was demand.

And now that the year is over, the staff is able to reflect. They all noted that it was not a perfect year, but no one complained about the outcome since everyone was laser-focused on what it means for the future.

“Just like the sixth graders this year, we had a lot of learning to do as we were doing it; you sort of learn as you go. There are clearly some things that if we could start over, we would do a little bit different,” Gingerich said. “But overall, it's gone really well.”

” I'm excited to think and reflect about what went well this year, and what didn't go well, [to] see how we can make the sixth grade middle school experience at Hillcrest better next year, and have it continue to grow,” Walsh added.

Next school year, Hillcrest will have a chance to see their fully realized middle school wing, something prospected for many years, now a soon-to-be reality.

Look for Part 2 of this story in our June 13 issue.

Hillcrest Academy is a private Christian school with a “Christ-centered” educational system, based in Kalona, IA. The school is accepting applications for the upcoming school year. You can contact Rebecca Beachy Miller, Director of Enrollment & Transportation, at rbeachymiller@hillcrestravens.org if interested in enrollment, though any enrollment requests for the middle school will likely lead to a waiting list since the school, as of May 20, has hit their cap, though this could change with time.