Overview

Project Overview

Why has this project been undertaken?

The Platteville Middle School, which has been in existence since the 1960ąs, has approximately five hundred forty students in grades five through eight. The fifty member faculty is organized into grade level teams, exploratory staff, and pupil servicesą personnel. In the past year we saw the demolition of the 1917 building, and the construction and renovation of the rest of the school. We also went through a change in administrative staff. To make matters more challenging, we are face-to-face with the benchmarks, statewide testing, and deciding how to meet the pressures of raising the bar on our expectations for students. These changes have forced our school to face change head-on. Our previous mission statement, building plan, curriculum expectations, and administrative leadership needed to be addressed and updated to the new needs of our school. The formation of a Faculty Council that could identify critical concerns within our school, and facilitate change, seemed the most natural progression for our school.

What do you hope to accomplish?

Our transescent team will become the core base of our Faculty Council. We hope to clarify the most essential concerns that our school needs to address in order to have a focused and powerful middle school that meets the needs of our students. After listing the most critical concerns, we will propose an outline to address and resolve each concern. With these outlines we will identify how we can incorporate all of our staff in achieving our goals.

What problems will this project address?

This project will address three strands that we find need to be immediately addressed in the next school year.

Remediation of Student Skills: Establishing an after school and a summer school program to support students who are not meeting the academic benchmarks.
Grading and Report Cards: Establishing a format for grades that will reflect assessment of the studentąs progress towards the benchmarks that all students must meet.
Curriculum Change: Identifying curriculum changes to better meet student needs. This includes block scheduling, curriculum integration, and team structure.

The Faculty Council will establish the groundwork for an on-going council and develop a policy for identifying critical issues that need to be addressed.