Studer Community Institute

EDS adding middle school section, revamping fifth-grade program

March 24, 2015
/ Staff Reports
/ community-dashboard

Episcopal Day School of Christ Church Parish in Pensacola announced plans to expand the middle school and launch a new fifth-grade program. The reorganization of the school’s academic sections and nomenclature is planned to be fully in place by the 2017-2018 school year. The school has been in downtown Pensacola since 1952 and welcomes students of all faiths and backgrounds. Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, EDS will add a third section, or class, for sixth-grade. The third section of seventh-grade will be added in 2016-2017, and the third section of eighth-grade will be added in 2017-2018. With the addition of the third section in middle school, class sizes, which currently average 22 students per class, are expected to be reduced to an average 18 students per class. Also next school year, EDS will launch a model fifth-grade program with a stronger emphasis on middle school preparation. Judy Shelton, EDS Head of School, said in a news release that the changes support the private school’s plans to become a “a model for 21st teaching and learning. “We value a setting that facilitates adolescent socialization and development needs with differentiated instruction and personalized learning focused on 21st Century skills,” Shelton says. Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, EDS will enhance fifth-grade program with a stronger emphasis on middle school preparation. Steve Edele, Head of Middle School at EDS states, “This enhanced fifth-grade program will present a unique model that focuses on the developmental needs of these students as they begin to emerge from a carefully guided and structured school experience, to the more independent and self-reliant demands of the Middle School,” says Steve Edele, EDS’ head of middle school. In addition to their core subjects and enrichment classes, fifth-grader students will have a daily “stretch class,” designed to help them stretch slowly and comfortably into handling the demands that middle school will bring. The class will focus on, among other things, study and organizational skills, time-management planning, decision-making, note-taking, self-advocacy, and issues surrounding social and emotional growth. Throughout the year students will have multiple opportunities to improve their technology integration skills, their leadership skills, and their ability to work independently. To accommodate the middle school expansion, EDS will phase out the infants & 1-year-old program in Wee School and over the next three academic years will phase in a 2-year-old kindergarten that will launch for the 2017-2018 school year. EDS is accepting applications for all grades; contact Lisee Sherrill, Director of Admissions, at [email protected] for more information. For additional information, contact Danielle Cranwell, Director of Advancement at (850) 434-6474 or visit www.edscc.org.

Back to Blogs

EDS adding middle school section, revamping fifth-grade program

Recent Posts