HATFIELD — Sixth graders could shift to Smith Academy from Hatfield Elementary School beginning in fall 2025 if a plan proposed by administrators, in part aimed at stemming enrollment declines across the school district, is approved by the Hatfield School Committee.

The plan, which has been discussed at meetings and within the school community since last winter, was formally presented by Superintendent Conor Driscoll at a late September School Committee meeting.

“We believe that making this shift will allow us to better service our sixth-grade students and have a more complete middle-school model,” Driscoll said.

Conversations have included teacher input, with broad support from staff, and discussions have since expanded to the administration and the current fifth-grade families.

“Across all those groups we found pretty broad support for the shift, in moving sixth grade to Smith Academy,” said Driscoll, adding that the families with younger children generally disagreed with the shift.

The proposal for a 6th Grade Academy would feature two core teachers and build a transition year into the middle school model, Driscoll said.

“We would like to see students staying from fifth to sixth grade and sixth to seventh grade in our district, and from eighth grade on, to really have those full three years to bring them into the Smith Academy community,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll, who also is the principal at Smith Academy, said Gateway Regional School made the shift of its sixth graders for a similar reason in 2016.

School Committee Chairwoman Christy Boudreau said such a decision would be about sustainability, keeping more sixth graders by moving them into a secondary environment. One of the times the district loses families to other schools is in sixth grade, she said, with another time in ninth grade, when some head off to Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School.

Driscoll said it’s unknown if the shift would keep more students, but he believes a number of families are looking for a middle-school model and a larger school experience by the time their children are in sixth grade.

Driscoll presented a series of rationales for the 6th Grade Academy, including that students are ready for the middle school. “We often hear that the sixth grade students seem ‘ready for the middle school experience,’” Driscoll said.

There would also be a larger variety of elective opportunities, with “X-blocks,” or exploratory options, an embedded “genius hour” that gives them an opportunity to pursue a passion project, daily specials and electives like band, art, physical education and health, and potentially the creation of an intermediate band for grades 6 to 8, and a beginner band in grades 4 and 5.

“It would allow us to continue to embrace our sixth grade in our social opportunities here: pep rallies, homecoming, clubs things that make Smith Academy so wonderful, it would allow us to expand that as well,” Driscoll said.

Sixth graders would have an opportunity to play middle school sports and select junior varsity games, when appropriate and with parent permission, and access social and emotional learning opportunities.

“This allows them to have a bigger group to connect with and it can be nice to see those students make those connections,” Driscoll said.

In preparation for the change, Hatfield Elementary School Principal Melissa Pitrat said the existing “scaffolding” is continuing, getting fourth and fifth graders ready by “departmentalizing” some of the curriculum, where students switch teachers for science and social studies in fourth grade, and where they switch teachers for math and science and English language arts and social studies in fifth grade.

Pitrat said that sixth grade has already been fully departmentalized, which would be moved over to Smith Academy. “These are the different ways we are ensuring the students are feeling comfortable and are ready to make the transition over here to Smith Academy,” Pitrat said.

In Smith Academy, there would be sufficient separation from the high school, with signs posted reminding all students of the separation, staff in the hallways during transitions to supervise students, separate bathrooms which are monitored by staff and a continued requirement for hall passes when students are out of the classrooms.

Driscoll said he expects the shift to be budget neutral, meaning no more costs associated with it. “I don’t see this as putting any additional budgetary strain (on the schools)” Driscoll said.

All teachers who have written to the School Committee are supportive, Boudreau said.

Those who spoke during public comment were also largely in agreement with the change.

Jennifer Charette, a sixth-grade teacher and parent, said she supports the shift as a faculty member, observing that the district’s changes to the set up of fourth and fifth grades has led to success for sixth graders.

Kevin Wall, a middle school social studies teacher and parent, said that if his child had been at Smith Academy earlier, that would have been a benefit. “I think the connections they can make through middle school is tremendous,” Wall said. “By the time they are in sixth grade, I think they are ready.”

The middle school team continues to support the shift, said Emily Case, a middle school science teacher and team leader. “I have to say they always feel ready, and some of them feel over ready, when they come, academically and socially and emotionally, and we have a lot in place to support them as they come,” Case said.

Heather Dostal, though, said she worries the move could actually prompt more families to pull their children out of the district, with already limited social interaction for families and children, and a larger span of grades at Smith Academy. “A sixth grade child and a 12th grader, that’s a massive age gap, and for a parent that’s a huge concern,” Dostal said.

Similarly, parent Katherine Johnson wondered if Hatfield schools can remain open long term. “Have you started a conversation about the other measures to prevent the school from closing by the time my kids get to the school, and to prevent nine kids per class from being the norm?” Johnson said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.