Caden Green and Harper Lile, 8th Grade, Co-Editor-In-Chiefs
Many fifth graders anticipate their middle school future as they apply to and explore Noe Middle. Noe is ranked as one of the best JCPS middle schools. It offers magnet programs in visual and performing arts as well as gifted and talented education. Both magnet programs were recently awarded the prestigious National Magnet School Certification.
“Noe has really good teachers and all the academics are great,” said sixth-grader Luke Lile.
Classes for gifted and talented magnet students are individualized. The teachers identify the students strengths and interests and create an individual class schedule for them. Classes in the magnet increase students’ academics and strengths in the arts.
“Noe prepares you to be successful in high school because in high school you have a bell schedule like you do here at Noe, as well as a harder curriculum compared to other schools,” said Lile.
The visual and performing arts magnet is designed for students who have interest in enhancing their performing and visual arts skills through classes such as chorus, drama, dance, orchestra, band and visual arts while also taking strong academic classes.
For sixth graders, these classes along with journalism and robotics/STLP are semester-long related art classes. They can take two, one per semester. Then in seventh and eighth grade, students pick one class to focus on and take it the whole school year. The exception is band and orchestra, which are year long classes sixth, seventh and eighth grade. Rotation classes include graphic arts and PE, which are semester-long classes for all three grades.
Noe also offers a very large amount of extra-curricular activities. Any sport, club or activity you can imagine is offered.
Some sports include tennis, basketball, swimming, golf, baseball, softball, soccer, cross country, track and field, football and many more.
Lile plays on the basketball team and really enjoys it. He enjoys getting to hang out with other students outside of school.
Some clubs include beta club, rotary interact club, black student union, hispanic student union, crochet club, chess club, robotics, fellowship of christian athletes and many more.
Some academic teams include quick recall, speech team, math counts, quiz bowl, science olympiad and others.
Noe also offers Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) and Kentucky United Nations Assembly (KUNA) for seventh and eighth graders.
Noe also utilizes a team environment. This means that every student is placed on a team at the beginning of the school year and throughout that whole school year your student takes classes with the same four or five teachers (depending on the team) and the other students on their team.
This creates an environment that makes Noe feel not as big and gives sixth graders peace of mind. With the teams, Noe is easy to navigate. Sixth graders know where all their classes are and become familiar with their team teachers and students on their team.
“You’re not overwhelmed with a lot of teachers,” Lile said. “It’s really nice because you have five teachers and they’re all in the same hallway. They made it that way so you can walk down one hallway and you don’t have to scramble all over the building to find your classes.”
Overall, Noe combines two excellent academic and art related magnet programs through individualized core classes and related arts classes.
Noe has extra-curriculars that provide many different opportunities for students to expand their interests outside of the classroom.
Lastly, Noe’s team environment creates an organized and worry free environment, particularly for new 6th graders.
