ENOSBURG FALLS
MIDDLE SCHOOL (EFMS)
Erik Remmers,
Principal
Educating
Adolescents in the 21st Century
The 2009-2010 school year is my first year as principal of
the Enosburg Falls Middle School. Having spent the past three years here at the
EFMS serving as the 7th and 8th grade Language Arts
teacher, I am thrilled to have stepped into this new role. My goal has been to
build upon the strong foundations of quality instructional practice laid by my
predecessor, Jay Nichols, by empowering teachers to work collaboratively to
build common practices that support all of our students.
Our school provides educational services for students in the
Enosburgh School District that are in grades 6-8. The school is staffed by professional and support
personnel that are committed to the unique learning of adolescents. As of this
writing, the middle school has 108 students. It is our continual mission to
create an environment conducive to the expansion of knowledge, the learning of
technical, creative and academic skills, and the appreciation of cultural
diversity. We the staff of Enosburg Falls Middle School strongly believe in the
importance of developing well-rounded students that will be ready to become
successful citizens in our society.
Teacher Growth
Our faculty is continually developing and growing as a
high-functioning professional learning community. Collectively, and as
individuals, we are staying current with new research and applying our new
learning to both our day-to-day, and school wide, instructional practices. This
year our faculty has spent a great deal of time working together to refine many
of our middle school practices based on the most current research on effective
strategies at the middle level. Together the faculty has devised a common
format and procedure for individual student progress monitoring. On a
bi-monthly basis teachers are meeting with individual students in their
advisories to track student progress in each of their classes, discuss current
successes and struggles, and set performance goals. This student-centered
practice is just one example of a product stemming from the facultyÕs
collaborative work together.
Teachers are also working and learning collaboratively as
they bring more and more technology into their classrooms. As of this writing
each student in the 6th grade has his or her own mini-laptop
computer, and the 7th and 8th grade computers are
currently in shipment. Teachers are working together, with the support of our
technology staff, to explore and implement instructional strategies that
incorporate the use of computer technology to enhance current practices.
In keeping with our school wide belief in the importance of
high quality instructional practice in the classroom, our staff has continued
to model their practice on MarzanoÕs nine most effective strategies. In an
effort to support and grow these practices with teachers, I visit classes on a
regular basis. I then give
teachers feedback as to how often and how well they are implementing the
research-based instructional strategies in their individual classrooms. This
helps us to continue focusing on providing instructional practices that truly
improve student learning and achievement.
Support Staff
Students and teachers are not the only ones working hard at
our school. We also have a wonderful support
staff. I define support staff as all of the non-teaching staff that offers
extra services to our students. When
it comes to appearance and cleanliness, the middle/ high school is truly jewel
set in the hills of northern Vermont. This is due in large part to the pride
and work ethic our head custodian, Jim Garrow, instills in his dedicated work
crew. Jim will be retiring this
year, and his presence in our halls will be greatly missed. On a similar note,
Tilde Labelle also retired as a custodian this last year. Her work and
dedication to our school has been invaluable during her thirty-year career. Her
smiles (and her enormous flowers) will be sorely missed. Earlene Bosley directs
the Enosburg Food Service Program.
At the middle school, Wanda Snider is in charge of our day-to-day
program. Our food service staff
works very hard to provide our students with nutritious meals at a very
responsible price. The
paraprofessional staff, under the direction of our special education teachers,
Tom Kafka and Anissa Seguin, works with students in the classroom setting and
in small groups providing academic assistance to students as necessary. Both
the health office and guidance department provide tremendous support to
students who are either physically ill or need extra support dealing with the
day-to-day stressors that all adolescents face. As principal, I consider myself a member of the
support staff team. I interact
with students every day and try to give them the support necessary to help them
be successful learners in our school and future successful citizens of our
democracy. Our administrative assistant, Kelly Gervais, and our Planning Room
Coordinator, Donna Flanders, work closely with me to help us keep the school
running safely and efficiently for all members of the Enosburg Falls Middle
School community.
The Students
We are very clear that everything we do here needs to be
about providing a high quality education for all students in the Enosburgh Town
School District in grades 6-8.
Students at EFMS receive both traditional core academic
offerings and exploratory courses.
The core classes that all students engage in are writing, reading,
social studies, mathematics, and science.
In addition, we have a variety of exploratory experiences for students
to access during their Middle School years such as: world language, Spanish
cultures, library media, life skills development, family & consumer
sciences, physical education, chorus, band, art and technical education.
Our school has a host of interventions to provide additional
time and support for students who need it. We have a highly attended After
School Program that is open to all middle school students as well as the fifth
graders from the Elementary School, free of charge. This program allows students the opportunity to
participate in a variety of high-interest activities in a safe and positive
environment. Our ASP Coordinator, Karen Powers, is committed to providing a
high quality After School Program for any interested students, and has done a
superior job in creating and sustaining engaging programming.
We provide support services to students with identifiable
learning disabilities through our Special Education Program. All qualifying students receive a
specific individualized education plan designed to make sure they have
appropriate access to a quality education despite their disability. Moreover,
we provide additional support to students who are not Special Education
eligible, but qualify for extra assistance by referral through our Educational
Support System. It is our goal to make sure all students receive the level of
support necessary to assist them in reaching their academic potential.
While we spend a great deal of time and energy providing
extra support for those students who need it; we also make sure to honor the
students with high achievements both academically and socially. We have an
Honor Roll to recognize outstanding student performance. Students are
recognized for high honors who receive straight AÕs and honors for all AÕs and
BÕs. Furthermore, we have a 5 A club for students who earn this honor (four of
the AÕs must be in core classes).
This Club Card entitles students to extra privileges such as free
bottled water and a night off from homework from any class. Finally, twice a year, we honor
students for academic effort with the Effort
Honor Roll. Students are honored with a certificate and their names are
published in the paper. This is a
method we use to reward students who work extremely hard, regardless of their
final grades. Perhaps most importantly, we host a Community Meeting each
month. At this event, teachers and
support staff recognize students with Outstanding Citizenship awards.
Outstanding Citizenship forms are mailed out to the parents of the students
selected. These students
participate in a raffle drawing to win various prizes.
Last year we formed the Junior National Honor Society in
order to recognize our highest achieving students. After seeing such great successes with the program, our staff
has made sure that it continues. To be eligible for this distinction, students
need to have all AÕs and BÕs for at least a year, must be proficient or
proficient with distinction in state tests, and must be recommended by
teachers. We have many students that are working very hard and achieving high
levels of learning. We want
to make sure to honor and acknowledge all examples of student achievement.
Test Results
This last year EFMHS was identified as a school that did not
meet Adequate Yearly Progress, as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act, in
the area of math for white students who receive free or reduced lunches.
Subsequently our school has been designated as Òin need of school improvement.Ó
This is our first year with this designation. In response to this designation,
our school has developed an action plan with a host of interventions that focus
on all testing areas, including math.
Additionally, of the 21 teaching staff members in the middle
school, including core teachers, exploratory teachers, and special educators,
four, or 19%, of those teachers have a provisional license to teach in their
content area. Only one teacher, or 5%, is not designated as Highly Qualified at
this time.
2008 Reading
Results
2008 Math Results
2008 Writing
Results
2009 Science
Results
School Safety
In addition to action plans designed to improve our
performance in math, reading, and writing, we also focus on continually
improving our school culture. A safe school where all students feel welcomed
and valued is central to our mission. To this end we have developed a Student
Code of Conduct that reads as follows:
Student Code
of Conduct
- I am
responsible for my actions.
- I will
respect others, their belongings, and myself.
- I will
cooperate with others.
- I have
the right to a safe pleasant learning environment AND the responsibility
to contribute to a positive learning environment.
Our staff and students take school safety seriously. We have
a very safe school. This is due in
large part to the fact that we continually stress our code of conduct and ask
students to police themselves and report others who are engaging in inappropriate
behavior. We utilize a planning room model that strives to help students
process misbehavior and get back into the classroom as soon as possible once
they demonstrate that they can reenter the classroom environment in a manner
that does not disrupt the learning environment of others.
Finally, Tina Ploof has joined our school this year as the
school resource officer. Her presence has been immeasurable in helping to
provide a safer school climate. Students trust Officer Ploof and realize that
she has their best interests at heart.
Extracurricular Events
We offer many extra-curricular activities for our students
to participate in such as soccer, wrestling, basketball, softball, baseball,
school dances, Family Fun Night, Survivor Night, Student Council, skiing,
snowboarding, drama productions, Junior National Honor Society and so forth.
Research demonstrates that the more extracurricular activities students
participate in, during the middle school years, the more likely they are to be
successful adults, who contribute in a positive manner to our society.
Enosburg Falls Middle School- Model Technology School
This is an extremely exciting time for EFMS when it comes to
technology. Not only have we implemented a one-to-one computer initiative here
in the school this year, but we have also been selected by the VPA to become a
regional model for technology use in both the classroom and throughout the
school. In October 2009 our school applied for the E-Learning Grant, which is a
$200,000 professional development grant that is divided up among six Vermont
schools and managed by the Vermont Principals Association. EFMS was one of the six schools selected
to participate in the grant and become a model technology school. The
E-Learning project is going to use its grant funds to flood the middle school
with in-class support and professional development around the use of technology
in the classroom for one full year. The point is for our school to become a
regional resource for other schools, and our teachers to become experts in
technology integration. We would be the ÒmodelÓ tech school for other schools,
both in and out of district, who also want to bring a high level of technology
into their classrooms. Our school is very proud of the potential for us to
become this sort of local resource, and the teachers are excited to begin their
training.
While we await
the start of the E-Learning program, our staff has continued to work
collaboratively to model and practice effective teaching strategies using
technology. 6th grade students have been using Google Applications
to design projects, create interactive presentations, and share their work. The
7th and 8th grades have been using The Young Writers
Project, which is an online writing and blogging tool created specifically for
or students, and have also continued their use of the ePearl writing portfolio
program. The entire school has started using VMath, which is an online
individualized math skill remediation and enrichment program, and will soon
begin using Accelerated Reader to increase the volume of student independent
reading. All of these programs serve as a supplement to, or enhancement of, our
already strong core curriculum. The intent of bringing these supplemental
programs into our school is not to replace our curriculum, but to offer more
varied and individualized opportunities to practice the skills taught within
our curriculum.
Of course with
all of this technology and online access in our school, there is always the
concern of student safety and security. Our school has taken many technological
measures to improve online security, including the use of filters and firewalls
on our network. But the most important and effective security measure is
consistent education for our students and parents around internet safety. To
this point we have held parent informational meetings on the use of our
mini-laptops, focusing on familiarizing students and parents with the computers
and offering ideas around safety measures for computer use in the home. We have
also brought in presenters to discuss issues like internet safety,
cyber-bulling, and harassment with students and parents. Later this school year
our entire school will read a novel, The Revealers, whose central theme revolves
cyber-bullying and technology use, and have regular discussions with teachers
about their effects. The point is to really push these themes of safety and
security in order to help students make good choices with their high level of
technology access. Technology in the classroom can have huge benefits for
student learning, but only if it is implemented safely and appropriately. Here
at EFMS, we are taking as many steps as may be necessary to ensure student
success with technology.
The Community
Finally, I wish to thank the voters of the Enosburg
community for their continual support of our school system. We have high attendance rates and very few discipline
problems for this age level. During this time of economic concern and turmoil,
it is incumbent upon us to make sure that we use our resources in a fiscally
conservative manner. We must look at all programs and make sure that the
students and taxpayers are getting the best value possible for their
investment. Any parent or community member who would like to speak to me about
anything related to the Middle School may contact me at 933-5354, or email me
at eremmers@enosburgk12.net.
Respectfully,
Erik Remmers
Principal, EFMS