Shelby Middle School

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Shelby Middle School

• Mission Statement Shelby Middle School in
  partnership with families ensures students will
  become responsible, productive, and academically
  successful.

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SMS Vision

• We envision
• A school where everyone is physically and
  emotionally safe.
• A school where everyone takes responsibility for
  their own actions.
• A school where parents, community, and staff
  actively support student learning.
• A school where all students are globally minded.
• A school where all students are enthusiastic
  learners.
• A school where all students are literate,
  communicate effectively, and work cooperatively.
• A school where all students will think
  critically, solve problems, and make informed
  choices.
• A school where all students show respect toward
  themselves and others, regardless of differences.

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Curriculum, Alignment, and Assessment

• Middle Start is paying for access time (subs) for
  teachers to work on these areas. (All work is
  posted in the schools computer network)
• Middle Start is paying for a building and
  literacy coach, Pam Thompson, to lead and fortify
  this process.
• Middle Start, through its coach, is working with
  Middle and High school curriculum alignment.
  This fosters a collegial and content area
  relationship between the teachers in the two
  buildings.
• Self-sufficiency for curriculum work is being
  developed with staff.

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Literacy

• Middle Start, through its coach, supplies on-site
  literacy examples and training to all content
  area teachers.
• The Middle Start coach has a working relationship
  with Oceana/Mason-Lake ISD in this process.

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Data Discovery-Use

• SMS utilizes Mi-Tracker to gather, define, and
  use data to make decisions regarding curriculum
  and teaching strategies.
• Content area teachers review student work and
  writing samples to assess achievement of skills.
• A data wall in the staff lounge is used to track
  needs and successes.
• Other data, such as the IOWA, and Star Reader are
  used to compare achievement results on the MEAP
  test for individual students.

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School Leadership Team

• Made up of representatives of grade levels,
  special ed., counseling and administrative.
• Meets bi-weekly to assess and monitor the entire
  school improvement process.
• Attends monthly leadership seminars in Flint as
  part of the Middle Start commitment.
• Provides and distributes data to staff.
• Monitors achievement results and school
  improvement goals and strategies.

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Professional Learning Communities (Team)

• PLTs, Professional Learning Teams meet
  (mandatory) on a weekly basis regarding the
  following
• 1) The Mission, Vision, Values and Goals as
  part of the decision making process empowered
  by the team.
• 2) Focus on student interventions with plan,
  program,
• and mentoring, etc.
• 3) Study/Embrace/Enact best practice
  instructional techniques beginning with
  Cooperative Learning.
• 4) Uses data/study of student work offering
  direction of things mentioned above.
• 5) Collegial dialog and trust
  building/respect/report.
• Common Plan time for grade level teachers allows
  for weekly PLTs.
• Communicates with an agenda and minutes of
  meetings to the principal and other teams.
• Teams read professional literature to upgrade
  skills. The latest book read by teams was
  Whatever it Takes written by Richard DuFour,
  Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, and Gayle Karhanek.

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English Language Learners

• Students are identified using the English
  Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA).
• ELPA scores determine placement in general ed.
  with varying degrees of support.
• Individual data is used to track student progress
  and needs.
• Students not proficient in oral language receive
  specialized instruction.
• Students needing academic support receive
  additional time.
• Additional teacher/aid support for these students
  that are very much in need.

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School Improvement Goals- Subgroups

• Goals are developed by all staff and are
  monitored by the school improvement team.
• Goals are based on data and are reflective of
  district Mission, Values, and Goals.
• Subgroups including Low Socio-economic, Hispanic,
  and Special Education, show achievement needs
  that are addressed through refined strategies,
  professional development, and data monitoring.

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Celebration

• The middle school acknowledges successes and
  celebrates achievement. This happens
  periodically throughout the year and finalizes in
  an end of the school year staff meeting.
• Quality work is celebrated by posting student
  work examples in the display cases and hallways.
• Purple and White Cards
• Honor roll celebration

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Pyramid of Intervention

• PLTs make a list of student academic
  interventions. This list is followed as a flow
  chart for improving student academic achievement.
  Examples of interventions are as follows
• Individual student meetings with PLTs
• Parent meetings with PLTs
• Counselor/Principal interventions
• Study skills class assigned two days per week
• Assignment book checks
• Phone home to parents
• Teachers voluntarily give up lunch times to work
  with individual students.
• Grade checks showing student receiving Fs or Ds
  are made bi-weekly and looked at by PLTs.

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Vision/Mission/Values/Goals

• The middle school just revisited its Vision,
  Mission, Values, and Goals
• Banners, posters, and tabletop reminders are
  being produced to reflect this to all students,
  parents, teachers, and other staff.
• They will be used to focus on school
  decision-making process.

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Rotating ScheduleTri-Schedule

• The rotating schedule provides students and staff
  with daily changes allowing for different needs
  for morning versus afternoon learners
• The current schedule allows for 50 minutes of
  uninterrupted academic instruction for all
  students.
• The middle school staff and high school share
  staff for electives, which do not rotate.
  SHARING STAFF WITH THE HIGH SCHOOL IN CORE
  CONTENT AREAS WOULD NEGATE BOTH THE ROTATION OF
  THE SCHEDULE AND COMMON PLAN TIME FOR PLTS.
• The trimester schedule allows students 12 weeks
  of P.E., Health, and Technology for each of the
  7th and 8th grade school years.

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Caring and Nurturing Environment

• Teachers, administrators and staff strive to
  create personal relationships with students.
• Comprehensive counseling along with outside
  support services through Bethany Christian
  Services, Catholic Social Services, Community
  Mental Health, and Probate Court (to name a few)
  provides support to students.
• Athletics, Clubs, Organizations make up the
  extended family of support for students.

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Professional Development

• Middle Start provides on-site professional
  development for staff as identified by our school
  improvement plan.
• Literacy Strategies
• Higher Order Thinking Skills
• Cooperative Learning
• Vocabulary
• MLISD provides on-site and off-site professional
  development opportunities for teachers.
• All professional development is related to our
  school goals and strategies.

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Parent/Community Connections and Communications

• The school improvement team has two parent
  members.
• Parents of students who are failing or at-risk of
  failing receive communications directly by phone
  and by letter.
• Grade level newsletters are sent periodically for
  special events and circumstances.
• Homework Hotline
• Parent Viewer is used for grade communication.
• Parent involvement is an on-going goal.

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Reading Advisory

• The middle school has had a sustained silent
  reading period for at least a dozen years that
  promotes a specified time for reading.
• Changes in this structure have occurred in the
  last couple of years focusing on advanced
  literacy and interventions specific to individual
  learning needs.
• Grade level PLTs manage the use of this time to
  best meet the needs of their students.

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Claw Club/The League

• The middle school has a Claw Club instead of an
  elected student council.
• Two student representatives from each reading
  advisory class are acquired through an
  application process to be part of the Claw Club.
• Claw Club meets during the reading advisory
  period at the end of the school day.
• The Claw Club uses The League Powered by
  Learning to Give and other service-learning
  partnerships between school and community to
  accomplish the following projects
• School-wide Service Day in October
• Penny Wars coin collection for charity in
  December
• Can food drive in Feb./March.
• Earth Day celebration in April

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Comprehensive Fine Arts Curriculum

• Shelby Middle School is supported with a
  comprehensive fine arts curriculum. Classes
  including band, choir, applications (drama),
  expressions (art), and industrial arts (shop) are
  offered to students on a semester basis as
  elective opportunities. These classes provide
  hands-on authentic learning opportunities for
  students. They are strongly supported in the
  community and opportunities for performance
  abound.

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7th Grade Camp

• Seventh grade students attend Grace Youth Camp
  in September. Students are challenged through
  activities such as wall climbing, rope courses,
  obstacle courses and social/relationship games.
  Parents are involved chaperoning events at camp
  along with fundraising activities at school for
  this event. Life Skills a district wide
  initiative is in place to foster these student
  ideals and is a mainstay of the camp experience.

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Technology

• Shelby Middle School provides students and staff
  with state-of-the-art technology and
  communications. Each teacher has one to two
  computers in his/her classroom. Our building has
  available two open computer labs and one mobile
  lab. In addition, SMS has a technology classroom
  where seventh and eighth grade students each
  have twelve weeks of technology as a required
  class. An elective technology class is also
  offered to eighth grade students.
• Each classroom is equipped with a multimedia
  projector and VCR/DVD player to assist in
  teaching. Classrooms will have projectors mounted
  by the spring of 2007.
• SMS has available three CPS units for rotating
  use in the classrooms.
• Digital cameras and camcorder are accessible.

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Talent and Gifted Programs

• Shelby Middle School participates in individual
  school and county-wide programs fostering gifted
  and talented opportunities. They are as listed
  below
• Performing Arts Festival
• Math Counts
• Quiz Bowl
• Science Challenge
• Visual Arts Gallery
• Midwest Academic Talent
• Search (Northwestern University)

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Thank You for Visiting SMS