Following this fall's shift of Noelani Elementary School's sixth grade to Stevenson Middle School, educators and community leaders are continuing to meet to discuss ways to modernize and reinvent the experience and image of one of Hawai'i's first middle schools.

"We initially started meeting after parents last year were expressing the concerns they had about sending their children to Stevenson," said Sen. Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully). "Based on that concern, I wanted to start working with the school to address the bad reputation. To me, it's a good school. It's just got a bad rep."

Community members and Stevenson officials are developing a "master plan," which includes recommendations for upgrading school facilities. Taniguchi — who, along with his two children, attended Stevenson — helped the school secure about $500,000 in planning money during the last legislative session. He hopes to help the school figure out ways to modernize the Makiki campus and improve academic offerings.

Concerns tied to shifting sixth grade away from an elementary setting surfaced last year when parents at Manoa Elementary opposed a plan to move the school's sixth grade to Stevenson. Parents argued that their children weren't ready to mix with older students and would be joining a school that scored lower academically.

In the end, state Schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto permitted Manoa Elementary to retain its sixth grade until 2013.

Parents at Noelani Elementary also opposed shifting the school's sixth-graders to Stevenson. The Noelani School Community Council, however, voted to proceed with the shift. One of the overriding concerns cited by Noelani council members was whether the elementary would be able to provide the resources to teach sixth-graders at an enriched middle school level — something that would be expected of the school.

Statewide, about 86 elementary schools continue to operate under the kindergarten-to-grade-six model. About 81 schools have switched to the kindergarten-to-grade five model.

The state Board of Education's policy prefers the middle school model over the two-year intermediate school model — grades seven and eight.

Still, there is no push by the state to switch all intermediate schools to middle schools, said Greg Knudsen, spokesman for the state Department of Education.

"We have basically left it up to individual communities as something they can adopt on their own. There is clearly a trend toward K to 5, however," Knudsen said.

Stevenson Principal Gregg Lee said even in the mid-1990s — when Stevenson was still an intermediate school and enrollment was limited to seventh- and eighth-graders — low numbers of Noelani and Manoa graduates enrolled.

This fall, 14 of the 60 children who were fifth-graders at Noelani last year enrolled at Stevenson. The rest either attend private schools or a school in another district, Lee said, noting that enrollment figure is higher than that of incoming Noelani students in past years.

Lee said he's received positive responses from their parents who had expected more of a rough-and-tumble or academically challenged campus. He said many of the concerns that parents had about sending their sixth-graders to the school were "misconceptions."

In an attempt to calm concerns, school administrators and teachers held a series of meetings last year on the Noelani and Manoa campuses and also invited parents to the middle school for a series of open-house meetings.

"The parents found that to be helpful. They were able to see the kinds of programs we have," Lee said.

Lee's staff also did an analysis of test scores to reassure parents that former Noelani and Manoa students continue to achieve once they reach Stevenson. "We wanted to assure parents that we were making academic progress," Lee said.

To address questions about campus safety, Lee said, "We asked former Noelani students to go to the presentations so they could openly discuss their experience," he said.

Former Noelani parent Dari Matsuura said she had planned to enroll her daughter Kaili, who is a special education student, in either Manoa or a charter school because she was afraid of sending her to Stevenson.

"I had a lot of concerns about bullying and there was a stigma that Stevenson was where the bad kids go," Matsuura said. But after meetings with the Stevenson principal and teachers, Matsuura said she felt comfortable sending Kaili to the school.

"She loves middle school there," she said. "Now that she's been there and is acclimated, my fears have been alleviated."

Cathy Wasem's son, William McQuiston, last year opted to leave Noelani to attend Stevenson as a sixth-grader.

"All you hear are negative things about the middle schools," Wasem said. "For Will, I think (Stevenson) has been a good opportunity for him to do things he may not have been able to do in an elementary setting," she said, pointing out that the boy — now in the seventh grade — participates in school athletics and the band program, in addition to advanced courses.

Lee said the school is continuing to experiment with a "team teaching" concept, which groups students into small learning communities. Teacher teams see the same group of students, and can thereby quickly identify students who may need additional help. The team approach also creates a sense of community among students and teachers, he said.

Also, the school has implemented reading classes, in addition to regular English classes, to help address literacy test scores.

"So this year the students not only have an English class, but they also have a separate class just for reading," he said.

Lee said that the middle school, with its science labs, extra curricular activities and advanced courses, can often provide more opportunities for sixth-graders than an elementary school.

Jeannette Uyeda, principal of Manoa Elementary, agrees that the middle school model can be beneficial for sixth-graders. But she said parents wanted to keep the sixth grade at Manoa because they felt the school has comparable offerings.

"We do have a lot of activities here. We have water polo program, drama, music. They have just about all the curriculum needs they would get at a middle school," Uyeda said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.