A two-week delay in opening will not detract from years of planning, Dellwood Middle School principal Carol Bassett has promised.

The school, which will be the only middle school fully accessible to the physical challenged, was scheduled to open its doors to 318 students including some 40 special youngsters on Monday.

But due to the work required to convert it from a primary school to a school for 11- to 14-year-olds that will not happen for another two weeks.

However, when the facility does come on line, Mrs. Bassett said it will be equipped to meet the needs of all of its students.

The school -- which started some 60 years ago as a preparatory school and in the sixties became a learning institution for primary to secondary students -- will take in students from West Pembroke Primary, Northlands Primary (formerly Dellwood Primary but relocated to the Northlands Secondary site on Berkeley Road), and Victor Scott.

These students, Mrs. Bassett pointed out, will include "the deaf, physically challenged, and gifted, as well as those who are slow learners''.

"Our emphasis initially will be on perhaps curriculum compacting where students will be pre-assessed and taught modules and/or objectives that they need to be taught rather than being taught the entire module,'' she explained.

"Students will be engaged in independent study where they can end up producing a project and can make written or oral presentations to teach the class what they have discovered.'' One middle school strategy which worked for all children was teaching based around what the students knows about a topic, she said.

"The philosophy is we often teach children what is prescribed without them having prior knowledge and interest in it,'' Mrs. Bassett pointed out.

"Students may go deeper into a topic than a teacher does because they want to learn so they become in-depth learners and researchers.

"We want the student to become an independent learner. This also frees teachers to become facilitators of teaching.'' Practices such as "active learning'', which is a process by which students become totally involved and immersed in subject matter, will be common at Dellwood and other middle schools.

Mrs. Bassett said: "It will allow us to do cooperative learning, where students work together in small groups to obtain a common objective. It will include a lot of discussion. We should see more hands-on and first-hand experiments.'' She also pointed out that middle schools in Bermuda, unlike most other jurisdictions, will place emphasis on business studies to prepare students for careers in the Island's growing income producer.

But Mrs. Bassett admitted the programmes will not be successful without the right staff.

"As I interviewed, I looked for staff who will complement the student body in demographics, ethnicity, sex, age, experience and skills in dealing with this age group,'' she said. "And I feel I've met that criteria.'' Staff at the middle school will have to work in three teams with each team responsible for a year level.

"They will have common planning time daily, aside from personal plans,'' Mrs.

Bassett explained.

"One thing middle schools will have to be successful in is communication.

That comes through team planning, not just with teachers, but pupils.'' Noting that middle schools will not place as much emphasis on individual and group competition as schools did in the past, Mrs. Bassett said there will be more opportunity for interscholastic and intramural activities.

"So we will have days such as flexible days when there will be team activities,'' she said. "There will be a team name, motto, logo, and team athletic activity and some activities between teams.'' Explaining that the former Northlands Secondary facility could not accommodate such middle school programmes and activities, she explained it was therefore important for Dellwood Middle School to be at its present location.

The school will reclaim the Nicholl Institute building on the northern side of the property, the family studies building, and the building known as the principal's cottage.

"I know that Dellwood parents were quite disturbed when they had to give up that plant,'' the veteran educator admitted.

She recalled parents' concerns about having adolescents attending a school which is a stone's throw away from a notorious drug trafficking area.

"But I hope to build security through the team organisation,'' Mrs. Bassett said. "Team rules and procedures and routines will be established firmly through the building.

"Security will be built into the timetable itself which will have large, but flexible time to teach the core subjects. There will also be much less movement between classes. And there will be staggered lunch periods and no recesses in order to maintain higher time on task.

"Staggered lunch periods mean about a third of the school will be in the play area at the same time. The area will also be supervised by teachers and there will be no going off the premises.'' Stressing that the safety of students and teachers were paramount, Mrs.

Bassett said she met with architects on a regular basis and planned the move "extensively'' with Northlands Primary principal Dale Butler.

Included in the middle's school's building plans are a two-storey music complex and elevators servicing the school's three floors.

"The area under construction is being made safer by the erection of a wooden structure and ramps are being installed to enable the whole school to be completely accessible for children in wheelchairs,'' she said.

If parents were not able to do a walkabout at the school, "in light of the construction which will be going on until next summer'', Mrs. Bassett said she planned to have a slide show before the beginning of the term.

Referring to the two-week opening delay, she said: "It's necessary that we take into consideration the safety of the students and children.'' And she had no complaints or regrets about the planning process for the middle schools.

"We've taken more than the right steps,'' she said. "We've taken time to plan and the planning has been very extensive.'' Asked what excited her most about the move to middle schools, Mrs. Bassett said: "I'm looking forward to team organisation and advisory time where students' interpersonal and group needs can be met on a daily basis.'' Mrs. Bassett also admitted that she had high expectations of parents and students.

"I'm expecting parents to take vital part in their children's education by participating in a parents advisory group and in being parent volunteers,'' she said.

"I'm expecting the students to become totally involved and immersed in programmes to the extent that they become well-rounded children whose minds have become stimulated to inquire and seek knowledge and answers to their questions.

"I'm expecting them to be highly responsible and independent learners who achieve success in various aspects of their development.

"And I think it will happen as long as the administration and staff, with parents, maintain the focus that comes from the vision that we have for Dellwood.'' Dellwood's administration has temporarily relocated to the Bermuda Industrial Union building.

The phone number is 295-7404 and fax 292-9327.

To some, it symbolises the end of an era for schools rich in tradition. To others it means the beginning of a public school system which is truly equal in opportunity for every student.

But whatever the viewpoint about Government's education restructuring plans, it is clear that Bermuda's future depends on its success.

And few are more aware of this than those who have been entrusted to lead the way at the pivotal point of the new system, the middle school level.

The Royal Gazette , in its series on middle schools and their principals, talks to Dellwood principal Carol Bassett about the old system and her hopes and aims for the new.

FACT FILE Dellwood Middle School Number of students: 318 Number of staff: 38, including paraprofessionals School uniform: summer -- navy blue culottes or shorts and white polo shirts with initials DMS, and white socks for girls; navy blue Bermuda shorts with white polo shirt and navy socks for boys. The winter uniform will be long navy blue pants for boys and girls with regular school shirts and navy and maroon tie with white stripes, maroon jacket, and navy blue V-neck sweater. School motto: Deeds, not words