Richmond's ninth-graders will be in a class all their own when the North Cache Freshman Center opens this fall, separating students from both the middle school and high school.
The school and the South Cache Freshman Center are the only Utah schools exclusively for ninth-graders. Nationally, there are only a few districts with school exclusively for high school freshmen, said Greg Larsen, the center's principal.Larsen said freshmen often have trouble assimilating into high schools but don't always fit in well in middle schools, either.
Often, they have high truancy rates at open-campus high schools. "They're just not ready for that kind of freedom," Larson said.
At the other end of the spectrum, middle schools generally do little to prepare them for the transition. Larson's staff decided better planning and counseling could help ninth-grade students get a better start.
Students will have Sky View High School activity cards and access to the high school's media center.