Hilton Schools' Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Susan Allen, has organized a series of three public meetings to address the questions, concerns and information about a possible move of Hilton's sixth grade classes from elementary buildings to the middle school. Representatives from area middle schools, Hilton administrators and others in the field will join Allen, who is an expert in middle school education, to discuss the nature and needs of the young adolescent, how to meet those needs socially, emotionally, physically and academically. The public meetings will be held: February 7 at 7 p.m. at Northwood Elementary School, 433 North Greece Road; February 12 at 7 p.m. at the Village Elementary School, 100 School Lane, Hilton and February 28 at 7 p.m. at Merton Williams Middle School, 200 School Lane, Hilton.

Currently, Hilton's three elementary schools house grades kindergarten to grade six and Merton Williams Middle School houses grades seven and eight. For the past two months a 16-member Sixth Grade Placement Task Force has been meeting to research, discuss and make recommendations to the Hilton Board of Education, the Superintendent of Schools and the Long Range Planning Committee concerning moving sixth grade to the middle school, a grade configuration used at the middle school within the past decades. District representatives say they are looking at sixth grade placement as part of its Long-Range Planning process and reviewing instructional and facility needs in order to improve Hilton's educational program for the next five to ten years.