School Mission Statement

The mission of the middle school is to develop in intellectually capable young people the creative minds, and ethical spirits needed to contribute wisdom, compassion and leadership to a global society.  We provide a rigorous, academic program through which effective educators lead students to take responsibilities for learning.  We are committed to sustaining a school in which individuals representing diverse cultures and experiences instruct one another in the meaning and value of community and importance of life long learning.  

Safe Haven

One of the key components in fulfilling the mission statement is to ensure that the school is a safe haven.  When students feel safe and secure, they are more comfortable in their schools, are better able to learn and succeed, and have better opportunities to grow academically, emotionally, and socially.  Therefore, a safe school environment is essential.

Violence in schools, homes and communities threatens to destroy our children.  Schools have a critical role to play in diverting students from paths and that all too often lead to school failure and dropouts.  If the increasing trend of violence among youth is to be changed, schools must take the lead in prevention of violent, aggressive, and destructive behavior.

Middle schools are filled with students who need pro-social skills to handle the many ups and downs of adolescent life.  Schools have a key role to play in addressing the rising tide of at-risk students who bring antisocial, aggressive behavioral patterns with them to school as a result of multiple, nonschool risk factors they have been exposed to in their lives.  Some examples are poverty, abuse & neglect, and weak or incompetent parenting which directly affects their educational experiences. 

Academic

In order to create an academic safe haven in which the students feel safe and respected there needs to be a comprehensive curriculum to be implemented by every teacher in the school. The teachers will be primary presenters of instructional lessons.  The teachers will also reinforce the skills taught and promoted in the curriculum.  We will provide teachers with adequate training in the use of the curriculum and a system for ongoing implementation support will be in place within the school.

Students must also feel that it is alright for them to take chances academically and to risk being wrong; as no one learns from being right all the time.  They must feel that they are supported in their efforts to learn.  Teachers need to be facilitators, displaying an accepting attitude and encouraging disposition; such that students feel that they are important.  The students will be actively engaged in learning and connected to both the school and community.  In order for students to learn at high levels, they must first be motivated to learn and interested in their studies.  Students who are bored by their classes, not motivated to achieve, and unable to see the connection between what they are learning in school and their real-world goals are unlikely to succeed academically.  Teachers will to be able to engage the students with instructional strategies that connect them to their peers.  Two examples are having students work on group projects and debates.  Students should also be active participants in the classroom.  Lessons will revolve around presentations, role-playing, and art-and-drama based activities.

Safety

We will provide programs that improve safety overall for all students.  The school will provide funding to ensure adequate staffing for security.  We will have a sufficient number of identified security guards throughout the building.  The security staff will receive adequate training and supervision from trained professionals. Creating a school-wide crisis team, such as BRT (Building Response Team), will also ensure the further safety of students.  The Building Response Team consists of administrators, teachers, the nurse, school safety officers and guidance counselors.  The BRT will design a crisis plan that includes evacuation drills for terrorist attacks, kidnapping, bomb threats, and traumatic events.  The plan will also include communication and response contacts with local law enforcement. The team will meet once a month for an update on school safety issues.  Safety drills will also be conducted once a month.

We will provide student identification cards to all students and staff.  This is to ensure that unauthorized people are not able to enter the school or roam the hallways.  A bonus to the identification card is it will be linked to the school lunch program and library access.

Safe school neighborhoods are an important factor in students’ feelings of safety and their overall achievement.  It is important the entire school staff work with community leaders and families in a joint effort to establish safer school environments.  It is also extremely important to implement culturally competent programs and initiatives to embrace community strengths.  Parents can work together to establish school-wide safety policies and practices and implement appropriate violence prevention programs.

Social

When students experience a positive school culture and feel that they are supported and accepted by both their peers and teachers they will begin to develop a strong sense of belonging in school.  This feeling of belonging can enhance students’ self-esteem.  It can also contribute to doing well in school both academically and socially.  The school will work with teachers and other partners to create an environment in which individual students are treated fairly, equitably, and with dignity and respect.

We will ensure that every student have a supportive relationship with at least on adult in school.  This will be done by designing academic and extracurricular programs with the specific goal of providing adult role models to the students.  One example is to have an advisory period build into each students program.  This period would allow a small group of students to connect with one teacher on a daily basis.

We will establish school wide initiatives to counteract bullying and to promote pro-social behavior.  Teachers will learn the difference between bullying and normal conflict.  Conflict is not necessarily bullying.  Once a bully situation is identified teachers must act immediately.  Some of the strategies that can be used to help resolve the issue are conflict resolution, mediation and open communication.  There will be bullying prevention programs implemented in the school.  These programs will help to develop the school environment characterized by positive interest and involvement by adults, firm limits to unacceptable behavior, and non-hostile consequences for inappropriate behavior.  In addition, students will understand that the appropriate response to violence is reporting it to an adult.

Development and Evaluation

The development and evaluation of how a teacher instructs and how a student learns are another important piece in the school’s vision.  Students have many different opportunities for learning in school.  They learn through interactions with other students and their teachers.  Their learning also depends on how teachers implement curriculum, design academic tasks, and engage students in these tasks.  The school will look at how to develop and evaluate new policies, practices, and structures that enhance its performance.  This will be done through strategic planning endeavors; evaluation of policies, programs; and application of indicators to measure toward goals.

Teachers also need to learn.  Their learning includes the knowledge, skills, and perspectives they acquire while preparing for and renewing their practice. Professional development days will be implemented during bi-monthly faculty meetings.  These development days will help teachers to look at their own practice differently and to enhance their student’s learning opportunities in the classroom.

There needs to be a greater emphasis on teachers’ values, skills and knowledge.  Teachers will be responsible for the academic and emotional outcomes of their students by setting realistic goals, structuring empowering learning environments, and facilitating and guiding learners.

There will be bi-weekly, ninety-minute faculty study groups to examine samples of student work.  The groups will focus on looking for evidence of learning progress and areas of need, and to identify future instructional steps to take with particular students or groups of students.  During these sessions teachers are learning about high-quality student work as well as planning ways to make that happen in classrooms.  The study groups will hand in their findings to their academic supervisors.  The supervisors will provide feedback, questions, and affirmation.  Once a month, a study group will report their progress and evidence of student learning improvement to the whole staff during a staff faculty meeting.

Twice a month, teachers will have the chance to observe their peers.  Their schedule will allow for them to go into a teacher’s classroom, make observations with a group of teachers and have time to debrief as a team.  This will give them an idea of more strategies, ideas, and opportunities to talk about teaching and learning.  Taking the time to reflect on how the observations have helped the teachers think about their practice and how they might improve learning for all students is a very important part of professional development.

Teachers will work together as team teachers.  Team teaching includes different styles of teaching by each teacher.  One might be the authoritarian and the other might be the caregiver.  Students will respond differently to these teachers and have their individual needs met. Since team teachers have the same planning period, teachers will be able to plan ways to integrate the curriculum, analyze assessment data, examine student work, and reflect on the effectiveness of instructional approaches being used in the classroom.  During common planning time, teachers can discuss issues related to individual student and parent concerns and scheduling of activities.  One advantage of common planning time is that it can enhance educational practice and can help to foster collegiality among teachers.

Partnerships with colleges will be formed and utilized in the school.  Partnerships can better address the complexity of schooling and education and the growing diversity of learners.  Partnerships will work with the teachers to acquire skills for classroom teaching.  They will invest both their time and resources to make sure a successful partnership is accomplished.  By partnering with a college, the professors can come to the school a few times a week, demonstrate lessons, team teach with teachers, and help to mentor student-teachers.  Although instruction play a vital role in teaching, interpersonal skills, communication skills and empathy for the views and perspectives of others in the community are just as important.  A partnership will help the students learn about communicating with others and teach interpersonal skills.