Middle and high school become one 6-12 campus

What happened

Collingswood Middle School and Collingswood High School were merged into a single secondary campus for 2026-27, which the superintendent described as one school, one campus, one culture. Management is now split into grade bands of 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12, each with a director of instruction, a school climate officer and an administrative assistant, in place of a principal and assistant principals at each school; a 6-12 special education supervisor and a 6-12 athletics and activities director were restored and the counselling and wellness centres were combined. The superintendent told the board plainly that the merger is a response to falling enrolment rather than a way to increase it, and that projected high school enrolment drops from 750 to 613 in a year. Because the high school receives federal Title I money and the middle school does not, the district said it would keep operating two school codes for at least another year.

Why it matters to families

This changes who a family deals with. There is no longer a middle school principal or a high school principal; the person responsible for a child is the director of instruction for their grade band, who also handles discipline. Students told the board repeatedly through the year that they and their parents did not understand what the merger meant for them, that the only public information session was invitation-only and not put online, and that they were left to assume the worst. Families with children at both schools also face a possible merger of the two parent-teacher associations once the school codes are settled.

The evidence

The August 19, 2026 recording records the superintendent describing the unification of the secondary campus as one school, one campus, one culture, and answering that the unified campus is a response to declining enrolment, not a way to produce more. The May 18, 2026 recording sets out the grade-band structure with a director of instruction, school climate officer and administrative assistant for each band, the restored 6-12 special education and athletics posts and the consolidated counselling and wellness centres, and records that two school codes will be kept because of Title I. The district's 2026-27 organisation chart lists three directors of instruction for grades 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12 and no middle or high school principal. The 2026-27 budget presentation gives projected high school enrolment of 613 against 750.

The source