Should 9th Graders be at the High School?

Typically, at any other high school, ninth grade would be in a building along with tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade. Starting in ninth grade on, everything counts so it makes sense to have them together with the higher grades. At Treasure Mountain Junior High, you go through eighth and ninth grade and then move onto the high school in tenth. Ninth grade is still considered high school, so why not put it in the high school building? Also, eighth grade should be in a middle school with sixth and seventh. Instead of putting ninth grade with the rest of the high school, they make them walk back and forth from Treasure to the High School for certain classes, missing valuable class time.

It is very rare to have ninth grade not in a high school, but that is not the main problem. The issue is that if a ninth grader wants to be apart of a high school class (since they’re high school students) they have to walk to the high school and back, which takes at least ten minutes each way. That is a terrible waste of class time. Band, math, debate, percussion, dance, and other popular classes require you to walk to the high school from treasure to attend the class, because it is not offered at Treasure. If ninth graders were at the high school like they should be, they wouldn’t have to sacrifice class time walking to and from the schools. Some opinions say that seventh through ninth grade is junior high and tenth through twelfth is high school, but our school is unlike many that have four years of high school.

If ninth grade is still considered high school, than it needs to be in a high school. While transitioning into a grade that counts for college and on, kids should be moved into a new school as well to get them in a more serious environment. Being with eighth graders, ninth graders may not take freshman year as seriously because they won’t be in an environment that everything counts for everyone. Not all the teachers and faculty are always as serious about everything counting because they are also focused on eighth graders, who don’t have to worry. If ninth graders were in a high school, everyone will have the same goals and have the same mindset about their future. All the teachers would be focused on the same thing, but when they are teaching eighth graders too, they aren’t always promoting the fact that we have to try hard in school.