(1) A school district's junior high school, 7th and 8th grade program, or middle school that complies with the requirements of this rule shall be accredited by the Board of Public Education in such capacity, according to the school district's compliance through a junior high school, 7th and 8th grade program, or middle school. To earn accreditation for its junior high school, 7th and 8th grade program, or middle school, the school district must have an education program aligned to the program area standards that enables all students to meet the content standards and content-specific grade-level or grade-band learning progressions and recognizes the distinct and unique cultural heritages of American Indians. 

(2) The Board of Public Education, upon recommendation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may approve a 7th and 8th grade program that must follow either the middle school philosophy and components described in (3) or the departmentalized philosophy and components described in (4).

(3) The Board of Public Education, upon recommendation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, may approve a middle school program that:

(a)  addresses the unique nature of middle-grade children by focusing on their intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. To put such philosophy into practice, a middle school must have flexibility to:

(i) approach instruction, scheduling, and teaching in a variety of ways;

(ii) undertake interdisciplinary work; and

(iii) plan blocks of coursework deriving from the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical needs of middle school students;

(b) incorporates critical and creative thinking, career awareness, lifelong learning, and safety;

(c) incorporates instruction in reading literacy and writing literacy into all required and elective program areas as required in the Montana Content Standards;

(d) includes, at a minimum, the following program areas as aligned with ARM 10.55.603 and 10.55.1001 are required of all students yearly:

(i) English language arts;

(ii) mathematics;

(iii) physical and life sciences;

(iv) social studies; and

(v) health and physical education;

(e) at a minimum maintains the following required program areas:

(i) visual arts including, but not limited to art history, art criticism, aesthetic perception, and production;

(ii) music including, but not limited to general, instrumental, and vocal (emphasizing comprehensive music elements, music history, criticism, aesthetic perception, and musical production);

(iii) career and technical education courses or pathways such as agriculture, business education, family and consumer sciences, health occupations and industrial technology education; and

(iv) world languages;

(f) offers as electives to all students exploratory courses such as creative writing, dance, drama, financial education, photography, and leadership.

(4) A junior high school must offer an educational program, aligned to the program area standards, that enables all students to meet the content standards and content-specific grade-level or grade-band progressions. 

(a) Instruction in reading literacy and writing literacy shall be incorporated into all required and elective program areas as required in the Montana Content Standards, ARM Title 10, chapter 53.

(b) All students shall complete the following program areas each year:

(i) 1 unit of English language arts;

(ii) 1 unit of social studies;

(iii) 1 unit of mathematics;

(iv) 1 unit of science; and

(v) 1/2 unit of health and physical education.

(c) All students must be allowed to elect from the following program area offerings:

(i) 1/2 unit of visual arts;

(ii) 1/2 unit of music;

(iii) 1/2 unit of career and technical education; and

(iv) 1/2 unit of world languages and cultures.

(d) A unit is defined as the equivalent of at least 8100 minutes for one school year.

(e) Time to pass between classes may be counted toward the standard school day but shall not be counted toward class time.