Five years ago, Excelsior Springs (MO) Middle School set a new vision for its future. That marked the beginning of the school's work as a professional learning community (PLC) and has changed its focus and how it measures success. One component of Excelsior Springs's vision is safety: "developing and maintaining a welcoming, orderly, and…

This article features Smokey Road Middle School, a Title I school serving 850 middle level students in grades 6-8. The school is located on the outskirts of Newnan, Georgia, a historic city of approximately 27,000 residents. The growth and development of the Coweta County School District is largely attributed to its close proximity to Atlanta. In…

For the past decade, schools throughout the United States have been working diligently to hit the targets set by national and state guidelines for academic achievement. Those targets have helped direct attention on the need to get all students achieving at a high level, but the laserlike focus on the target numbers have led many middle schools to…

The well-known lyrics may be "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You," but at Scott Morgan Johnson Middle School in McKinney, TX, it's definitely the "eye of the tiger" that sets the bar for Tiger PRIDE (perseverance, respect, integrity, determination, and excellence). This article describes how those ideals have been infused…

In 2003, Southmoreland was a seventh- and eighth-grade junior high school in the warning category under NCLB for failing to make adequate yearly progress. Scores on state tests were grim--only 39% of the students were proficient or advanced in math and 55% in reading. Two years later, the combined improvement in reading and math scores resulted in…

This article features Robert M. Finley Middle School, a school that is considered by the entire Glen Cove, New York, community as important and successful. Gaps in student achievement have decreased significantly and all student achievement has improved over the last five years in this school, where nearly half of the 652 students are from…

Much like a Jazz group, successful middle level schools are also founded on elements of improvisation, collaboration, teamwork, and responsive communication. Just as the director of the jazz group must have a solid foundation of music theory, the skills to bring out the best in the players, and an attitude that allows others to shine, those who…

This article features the Preuss School UCSD which is considered as unique in a number of ways, among them are its unusual name and requirements for admission. The school was named in recognition of a substantial bequest from the Preuss Family Foundation that was earmarked to establish a charter school on the campus of the University of…

Ravenswood (WV) Middle School is located on a quiet residential street, adjacent to the high school, the town library, and a community park in the small town of historic Ravenswood, West Virginia. The unassuming exterior of the building belies the school's record of continued academic growth and achievement and the warm, caring environment that it…

Laurie Barron, the principal of Smokey Road Middle School in Newnan, GA, is the 2013 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. This article presents a conversation with Barron on her passion for teaching and learning. She shares her biggest motivator as a school leader and how she motivates her students and staff members to fully…

The language that students and teachers use to describe what they like best about M. O. Ramay Junior High School is strikingly similar. Both groups talk at length about how they are treated with respect and given freedom. Teachers describe the freedom to teach and students describe the freedom to be an individual. Both groups quickly add that with…

Originally drawing from a "country club" community in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Creekland Middle School has undergone significant changes in the past decade. The percentage of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch has risen--and continues to do so. This year, 46% of its student population is economically disadvantaged, up 20%…

Developing interdisciplinary teams that function properly should be the goal of every school leader who is interested in promoting middle level reform. To accomplish that goal, individual team members should not be left on their own to sink or swim with the teaming concept, but must be guided through a transformational process that teaches them to…

The first faculty meeting of the year is an opportunity for administrators to model strategies that engage their teachers and promote a sense of teamwork. This article describes the first faculty meeting of the 2008-09 school year at Matoaca Middle School in Chesterfield County, Virginia, where the administrators tried to model strategies that…

This article features Franklin Middle School which is located in the heart of an economically challenged neighborhood in the small urban city of Champaign in central Illinois. Though staffed by dedicated adults and attended by hardworking students, Franklin is recovering from a difficult past. As a result of years of racial discord, segregation,…