K-8 centers combine grades in one location or school that are usually assigned to a separate elementary (K-5) and middle school (6-8). In 1998 the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, approved a pilot program to introduce to the district the concept of K-8 centers. Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) initiated two K-8 centers during the 1998-99 school year. Three additional K-8 centers opened the following year in 1999-2000. In 2001-02, two additional K-8 centers were opened. During the first year that the initial five MDCPS K-8 centers were operational, a preliminary study was conducted to examine the effects of K-8 centers on student performance. In the study, the performance of K-8 students attending sixth grade during the 1999-2000 school year was compared to that of students attending sixth grade at nearby middle schools. Parents, teachers, and principals were surveyed, and the climate survey results of K-8 and regular middle school students were contrasted. After one year of exposure to the K-8 center model, results showed K-8 students academically outperforming comparable students attending traditional middle schools. K-8 students also had better attendance and fewer out-of-school suspensions. Survey results indicated that a majority of the parents of K-8 students favored the K-8 centers over the traditional middle schools. Furthermore, students and school personnel also expressed favorable opinions of the K-8 centers. The initial phase of the K-8 centers evaluation was conducted to investigate the centers' short-term effect on student performance and also to gauge the reactions of concerned parties, such as staff, students, and parents, to the program. The present report constitutes the second phase of the K-8 investigation, which is designed to track K-8 students into high school to examine the long-term effects of the K-8 centers on student performance. Specifically, this evaluation follows sixth graders who attended K-8 and neighboring schools during the 1999-2000 school year and who in 2002-03 completed the ninth grade. (Contains 5 figures.)