Barton Hills is only one of a handful of Austin ISD elementary schools offering a 6th grade. Our 6th grade offers a small community with big opportunities. The 6th grade is led by Collins Van Nort (aka Mr. V). Every Friday, our 6th graders let nature be their classroom, spending two hours working and learning in the Greenbelt.
Rigorous academics with cross curricular study:
Our teachers work closely together to provide a challenging curriculum within and across disciplines. Our expectations and curriculum are the same as a middle school in subject content including Art, Music, and P.E. There are many project based learning opportunities requiring students to make real-world connections and analysis. Technology is utilized on a daily basis to enhance communication, presentations, research, and products. Flexible groupings form the core of meeting student needs. As one sixth grader stated, “the teachers want to make sure you get better at something.”
Middle School Responsibilities and “Electives:”
While on an elementary campus, our students have middle school responsibilities and expectations. They have multiple teachers, carry their books and supplies with them, and are part of a community of learners. They typically eat lunch outside everyday (weather permitting) and then have some social free time.
While we do not have course electives in the form of a traditional middle school schedule, we provide students opportunities to try a variety of non-core academic activities. Physical Education and Art and general Music occur on a rotating schedule. Music instruction is provided daily through band and orchestra. They periodically perform with the middle and high school bands and orchestras. Sixth graders do a yearly theatre production. They audition for the parts, create sets, run the lights and sounds, and of course, perform the show itself.
Every Friday, for 24 years, Mr. Van Nort has conducted his sixth-grade class on the Greenbelt. Mr. V's students engage in a variety of activities: journaling using "Sand County Almanac" by Aldus Leopold as a mentor text, pulling invasive species, testing for stream velocity, studying creek cross-sections, geocaching, writing poetry, estimating hiking distances, and conducting water quality tests. Extensions of these activities include field trips to Wild Basin Preserve (where Mr. V is an avid volunteer), Barton Creek Preserve, and Bamberger Ranch. Some of these activities were created as far back as the 1980s when Mr. V served as the "Science Teacher Specialist" and taught Earth Science and Environmental Science at the Kealing Jr. High Magnet Program. Other activities have evolved over the years.
Recently, Mr. Van Nort won a John F. Ahrns Award for his work introducing students to the wonder of the outdoors.
