To Close Achievement Gaps, Cambridge Could Reconfigure Schools

BOSTON — Correction appended — Cambridge school officials are considering an ambitious plan to reorganize the district's middle schools.

Instead of having 12 schools serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade, the district would have 12 elementary schools serving students up to fifth grade. Four of the schools would also house a middle school for students in grades six through eight.

Cambridge school officials say spreading the middle school students out across all 12 schools has created "enormous" achievement gaps.

The plan for middle schools is one part of an "Innovation Agenda" the superintendent is proposing. The school committee discusses the agenda in a roundtable meeting Tuesday night and votes on it next week.

Correction: An earlier version this story mischaracterized the Cambridge schools plan and misstated the date of the school committee vote.