Is Bigger Better?

Last year, Middle College had to reject 100 applicants, 31 of which were those who were interviewed but were ultimately rejected from being part of our Class of 2023. This proposal will change that.

As any Middle College student can tell you, Middle College High School is known to be a unique high school with a small population. After all, what other high schools in Stockton are located on a college campus? Although our population is small, we make up for it with our achievements. Because of our consistently high test scores, we were named a Blue Ribbon School in 2008 and a California Distinguished School in 2007, 2011, and 2019. Many can argue that a lot of our achievements are due to our unique environment and circumstances. However, we will soon be welcoming a larger number of students to the Middle College population.

On October 15, 2019, Assistant Superintendent Jeff Palmquist and Mr. Davis presented a report to the LodiUSD Board of Education to introduce the idea of Middle College expanding its student population. Mr. Palmquist reported that the Delta College executive leadership is more than willing to help expand our program further—including adding more people into our current Middle College program and adding more industry-specific dual-enrollment programs onto the Delta College campus. Think Health Careers Academy and Pacific Law Academy.

“We’re turning an awful lot of kids away. The demand is there. As an educator who advocates for kids, I have a problem with these 31 kids not being here.”

After the report, all seven members of the LodiUSD Board of Education declared their unanimous approval for continuing to explore the expansion of our school. During the “public comment” portion of the meeting, Mr. Venhuizen and Mrs. Giannone spoke on behalf of their concerns of expansion, as well as those of an unidentified teacher.

By January 2020, the proposal was approved by LodiUSD. Next year, 95 students will be admitted into each new class within a four-year period until we have 360 students enrolled in Middle College. For many years prior, we admitted about 65 students in Middle College every year, and we have about 260 students in total. This means that, by the end of the four-year period, we will have 120 more Middle College students than what we currently have.

Mr. Davis has expressed interest in expanding our school since his beginnings as our principal. He stated, “I’ve been talking about this ever since I got here [two years ago]... three or four months into that first school year.” Last year, Middle College had to reject 100 applicants, 31 of which were those who were interviewed but were ultimately rejected from being part of our Class of 2023. This proposal will change that. “We’re turning an awful lot of kids away. The demand is there. As an educator who advocates for kids, I have a problem with these 31 kids not being here.”

On March 2020, due to shelter-at-home orders caused by COVID-19, the Class of 2024 was picked through a random lottery instead of the typical freshman interview process. This class will have approximately ninety-five students. There has also been one confirmed math teacher to be joining the Middle College staff, Mrs. Beltran, and one confirmed science teacher.

With major changes soon coming our way, we want to know what your opinions about the expansion are. Do the pros outweigh the potential cons or vice versa? Please go to tinyurl.com/mchsexpansion to fill out a survey regarding your opinions of the expansion. The survey is not mandatory, but we would highly appreciate you filling it out! (EDIT: PLEASE USE YOUR LODIUSD ACCOUNT TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY!)

In a future article, I will be reporting on students’ opinions about the expansion proposals.