OVMS history Orchard Valley and her twin sister school, Chestnut Ridge, opened in November of 1989. Over the years, the populations of both schools have increased and declined with the growth of the community and the eventual opening of Bunker Hill Middle School in 1997. However, there has always been one major focus, the preservation of the middle school method of delivering instruction. Students and teachers are clustered in teams of anywhere from 125 to 135 students with five teachers. The team becomes a microcosm of a larger society.
Students move about their academic day among the same five teachers.
They have common physical education, exploratory arts and lunch periods. The team teachers are the support system for their students. In sixth grade, the teachers help acclimate their students to the middle school. In seventh and eighth grades, teachers continue to foster the small group environment within a large super structure. Each of these is criterion-based.