Middle school explores return to letter grades

Creston Middle School teachers are looking to bring back letter grades for seventh and eighth grade students.

For the past five years, CMS students have been graded on a standards-based grading system. This means instead of percentages and letter grades, students are evaluated based on their progress toward end-of-year goals for each grade level.

When the grading system was introduced to the Creston Community School District Board of Directors in 2021, then-CMS principal Brad Baker said the goal was for students to successfully pass an assessment rather than simply completing homework.

“It’s about learning; it’s not about grades,” Baker said.

However, middle school teacher and students alike have noticed this system isn’t working well to prepare students for high school or encourage growth.

“Right now we are seeing that gap, especially from eighth grade year to freshman year, the big jump and what is required of them,” CMS teacher Staci Kline said in a presentation to the board Monday night. “By being able to move back to traditional grading, we’re aligning ourselves with the high school so as they transition, especially from eighth grade to freshman year, it’s not such a shock to them.”

“We feel that students need to have more of an active responsibility in taking that leadership role when it comes to their own learning,” CMS teacher Sara Lane continued. “Being aware of where they stand when it comes to knowing where they are with their benchmarks and also if they have any missing work, really taking ownership of that in their own learning every single day through developing responsibility and study habits.”

They are also hoping to provide some consistency in extracurricular eligibility, though the middle school students won’t be held to the same standards as high school students.

“It’s so they understand the expectations to be eligible,” Lane said. “It’s not as intense as high school eligibility because in middle school our seasons are very short. We didn’t want to set up a system where it would penalize them for needing that extra time or extra practice to reach a benchmark, but still hold them accountable for their performance on those assessments, and it maintains that high accountability outside the classroom as well.”

CMS Principal Lesa Downing said the idea came from a culmination of all the seventh and eighth grade teachers.

“I thought this was huge. The seventh and eighth grade teachers took this upon themselves. They had a concern. They’ve been talking to high school teachers,” Downing said. “I thought it was huge that my staff got together and they voted, they agreed and they’re like, ‘This is what we want to do.’”

While middle school incorporates fifth through eighth grade, this proposed change would only be for seventh and eighth grade. The elementary school has been using the standards-based grading system for seven years, so students would remain with this system for the first half of middle school.

“In middle school you find that the older they get, if you don’t grade it or score it, they’re not going to do it. Now elementary kids, they’re going to do it because they still want to please the adult and the teacher for the most part. When they get in seventh and eighth grade, if they don’t see a grade or something attached to it sometimes we see the lack of participation,” Downing said. “That’s where we’ve kind of run into the seventh grade. They’re getting old enough where they need to know it might not be graded, but it could keep you from participating in some extracurricular activities so you need to step up and be responsible.”

If the shift back to traditional percentage grading is approved, the teachers said it would begin this fall. In order to ensure parents understand the changes in grading and expectations, Lane said every classroom would send a syllabus home at the beginning of the school year.

“No matter if they’re in Mrs. Kline’s class or in my classroom, any classroom, they’ll have a syllabus that will be sent home with the detailed instructions and expectations for that particular teacher,” Lane said. “For the most part, the weighting of grades and the policies and the retakes and the extracurricular eligibility will be the same in every single class, but if there’s any slightly different expectations, like a science lab, that might look different for that teacher. That will all be communicated upfront with parents, with students and with everybody that would be relevant to that student success in our classrooms.”

No action was taken Monday, but the topic is expected to be on the agenda during the board of directors’ June meeting.

In other district news...

During public forum, 2024 CHS graduate Dillon Starlin presented to the board feedback from various Creston alumni on how culture changes could positively affect students, staff and the district as a whole. While he said the school is already doing a good job, “Good schools continue improving.”

Creston Middle School students in student council and the school-to-work program held a soft opening for the Panther Perk coffee shop on May 8. Customers are limited to district staff for now.

CCSD Business Manager Billie Jo Greene was thanked for her 12 years of service to the Creston community. Greene is set to retire at the end of the school year.

The board approved the following list of May 2026 contracts and resignations:

Contracts: Chris Tibbals, 9th grade softball coach; Carmalee Woods, 8th grade volleyball coach; Hallie White, elementary paraprofessional; Destiny Edwards, elementary paraprofessional.

Resignations: Isabelle Myers, 3rd grade teacher (end of 25-26 school year); Kelsey Merritt, 7th grade track coach; Judy Gunter, paraprofessional; Bryce Schafer, middle school student interventionist, assistant golf coach, head boys basketball coach; Jacob Baudler, bus driver, junior high football coach, junior high basketball coach; Sandy Shimer, cook.