Area schools try to fix middle-school woes

By Lisa Gartner

Published October 22, 2011 4:00am ET

They graduated from elementary school relatively unscathed, thanks to the healing powers of the cootie shot. But it’s middle school where kids contend with overwhelming emotional, neurological, physical and cognitive changes — and national and local leaders say the middle child of K-12 education has been long overlooked in school reforms.