Ga. Lunchtime at Creekland Middle School is conducted with order and precision.
Classes have exactly one minute to get through the hallways and into the lunch line.
And after dropping off their dirty trays, students have to walk along the perimeter of the cafeteria to leave, instead of clogging up the middle of the room. Such rules may seem to verge on regimentation, but they are necessary at Creekland. With more than 3,100 students, it is also larger than many entire school districts in Georgia, and is even believed to be the largest middle school in the country. Yet despite those distinctions, efforts to create a small school environment at Creekland are clearly visible. The schools' leaders share the view prevalent among many experts that organizing schools so that children feel connected to one another and to the adults in the building is vital especially for those entering their teenage years.