As the 2025-26 school year winds down, work continues to enhance the educational experience of middle school students across the district and finalize the implementation of a pilot program that will, among other initiatives, examine alternative schedules at three schools in the fall.
The pilot schedules will be in place at Arundel, Corkran, and Wiley H. Bates middle schools in the coming school year. As the Maryland State Department of Education is requiring all middle schools to do by the 2027-28 school year, the schedules will increase math instruction to more than an average of 60 minutes per day. In addition, they include a Wednesday activity block designed to expand co-curricular and extra-curricular activities and increase connections to school across diverse interests of middle school students.
“Middle school is a place where student performance has traditionally lagged not just in our county but across Maryland and the nation,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell said. “This is a time of great change in the lives of our students and we need to meet them where they are and help them adapt to that change in ways that set them up to be successful high school students and adults.”
A cross-functional team of school-based and central office staff, students, parents, and community members has been examining research, conducting focus groups and developing plans to improve academic outcomes while continuing to meet the requirements of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and align initiatives with AACPS’ Strategic Plan.
“This work is critically important, but what we’re hearing from students is that we need to bring the joy back to middle school,” Dr. Bedell said. “Our students need to want to come to school to learn and they want to have a voice in that learning and in their journeys.”
The redesign team has divided its work into academic and climate strategies.
In addition to the pilot schedules, five middle schools – Annapolis, Lindale, MacArthur, Old Mill South and Southern – are piloting new team and department structures that allow for content-based collaborative planning among teachers. Lindale, MacArthur and Southern are also implementing a comprehensive Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework designed to both proactively and responsively address student behavior.
Some middle schools will also be piloting other opportunities related to belonging, teaching, and learning. More information on the work being done by the Middle School Redesign Team and the pilot programs can be found online at www.aacps.org/middleschoolredesign.