Wyoming Area proposes ‘middle school model’ – Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice

The Wyoming Area School District is proposing to implement a “middle school model” for next school year. The proposal would send sixth grade students to the Wyoming Area Secondary Center, which currently houses students in grades seven through 12.

Wyoming Area Secondary Center Principal Greg Riley described the plan in an online presentation streamed Wednesday. He said sixth graders would join their seventh and eighth grade counterparts in designated wings of the secondary center to be christened the Wyoming Area Middle School. The new middle school motto would be “find your path.”

“I am excited to talk about the opportunity that can await our students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade middle school building here at Wyoming Area,” Riley said. “By separating these two entities (the high school and middle school) we can now create the culture of a middle school building.”

Wyoming Area Superintendent Jon Pollard discussed the rationale for the middle school proposal during the presentation. He said the district had considered the model in the 2000s and 2010s and that it is a format used by other school districts in the Wyoming Valley.

“A middle school is not a new concept,” Pollard said.

Pollard said the plan was motivated by multiple factors, including a desire to accommodate Wyoming Area’s declining enrollment trends.

Wyoming Area has seen its student body shrink significantly over the last decade. In the 2015-16 school year, there were 2,309 students enrolled in the Wyoming Area School District. When the district tallied its enrollment for the current, 2025-26 school year, it found that figure had dropped 16.11% to just 1,937 students. The decline in enrollment was especially steep at the Wyoming Area Secondary Center, the student body of which fell from 1,122 in 2015-16 to 887 in 2025-26, or 20.94%.

If the district does adopt a middle school model, the projected enrollment at the Wyoming Area Secondary Center in the 2026-27 school year would be 1,037 students – a total that would limit the decennial decrease from 2015-16 to 7.58%.

Pollard said a middle school model would ultimately work to reduce district costs through faculty and staff attrition. Wyoming Area could invest these savings to cultivate internal special education programs – something that would help the district avoid costly out-of-district placements.

“All of these opportunities provide the situation where Wyoming Area students stay in Wyoming Area buildings and provide a tax savings for our taxpayers and the school district,” Pollard said.

A shift middle school model would be accompanied by a change to curriculum. At the January school board meeting, Pollard said the district was trying to orient the curriculum towards giving students more preparation for post-secondary education or careers.

“We anticipate that will provide a more robust experience for our students and better prepare them for their life post-high school,” Pollard said Wednesday.

Riley reviewed the new roster of middle school electives during the presentation. For sixth graders, there would be “Effective Writing,” “Google Applications,” “Social Skills,” “Wellness,” as well as art. For seventh graders, students would have electives of art; family-consumer science; a course called “Money Matters;” a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics course; and a “Wellness” course. Eighth graders will be offered “Career writing,” “Science and Ecology,” and “World Language Exploration,” as well as art and “Wellness.”

For all three middle school grades, there would also be a designated music class of either band, chorus, or general music. This system, Riley said, would prevent students from being pulled from class for music rehearsal. The core classes for each middle school student remains a class in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

At the middle school, students will also be running on a seven-period schedule, as opposed to the eight-period schedule currently in place. Riley said the change would increase instructional time, while facilitating a “‘Warriors in Need’ flex period – a time for individualized, remediation instruction based on state standardized test performance and internal district benchmarks. Teachers can make use of the flex period to plan for how to address individual student performance.

Riley said there will be some renovations of the secondary center to prepare for the establishment of the middle school. To accommodate its youngest students, the current secondary center math wing will become one dedicated for the sixth grade, with sixth grade students reserved their own, exclusive bathrooms.

“We want our students to grow, grow and achieve through the process,” Riley said.

Riley said the district will hold town halls and offer incoming middle school families tours of the secondary center in the coming months.

The Wyoming Area Board of Education must approve the middle school plan before it goes into effect. If ratified by the school board, the plan will then need to obtain approval from the state Department of Education, Pollard said when contacted Thursday.

Parents and guardians are urged to direct any questions to Pollard at the superintendent@wyomingarea.org email address.