Friday, February 26, 2016

EE:STW - Congratulations to North Shore Middle School

Congratulations to Dr. Marc Ferris and his faculty, staff, and students for being designated as National Forum to Accelerate middle grades reform, State Education Department and New York State Middle School Association Essential Elements: School to Watch.  Dr. Ferris shares his thoughts on the process below. I encourage everyone to seek out our EE:STW schools and learn more about the process.

 Going through the process of becoming an Essential School to watch forced us to reflect on our current educational practices.  It confirmed for us what we do well and also helped us to focus on what we need to strive towards in the future.

Mostly, being an essential school to watch means providing students with a caring, supportive, and developmentally appropriate school culture that supports academic excellence for all students.  We are so proud of our teachers and students as this recognition confirms that our focus on creating a school community where "Everyone Matters, Everyone Cares, and Everyone Learns" (our school ethos) is tightly aligned with what our state and nation value in quality education.