1. Mountaineer Middle School
A Developmentally Responsive Middle School
By: Heather Lowman, David Melton, Andrew Samuels and Tina Smith

2. Philosophy and Mission Statement:
Mountaineer Middle School is a community learning institution for students in grades 6 through 8 staffed with teachers who are highly qualified to teach young adolescents. The instruction of our students will be done in a safe, family friendly, and community supported environment that is academically challenging, socially equitable, and developmentally responsive.

3. Essential Attributes and Characteristics
Developmentally Responsive
Challenging
Empowering
Equitable

4. Organizational Components
Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Leadership and Organization
Culture and Community

5. Grade Organization Pattern
A time of unprecedented physical changes.
Cognitive growth.
Young adolescents develop multiple ideas and can carry out their own activities for learning and moral responsibility.
The importance of peer acceptance.

6. Interdisciplinary Team Organization
Interdisciplinary team of four teachers: Math, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.
Teams will have a common planning time each day collaborating across teaching specialties and sharing responsibilities for academic development, student advocacy, and student interest.

7. Flexible Block Scheduling

8. Advisory Program
Advisory Programs organize teacher-advisors, students, and parents in a three-way partnership in order to help middle level students cope with complex personal, emotional, academic, and social issues of life. Advisory will meet Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 8:30.
Schedule of Activities
Day One: Career Day
Day Two: Game Day
Day Three: Hobbies Day
Day Four: Video/Media/Music Day
Day Five: Community Service and Adolescence Issues Day

9. Support Personnel Administrators Office Staff
Core and Non-Core Teachers
Media Coordinator
Instructional Facilitator
Guidance counselors
School Psychologist
Speech and Hearing Impaired Staff
Safety Officers
Related Exceptional Children Services
On-Site School Nurse

10. School Curriculum
Core classes are Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies
Core classes and Enrichment classes meet for 65 minutes each day
Core classes standards are taken from the Common Core N.C Essential Standards
Homeroom and Advisory will begin the day for 30 minutes each day

11. Core Studies Core subjects in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades are:
Language Arts
Math
Science
Social Studies

12. Studies Beyond The Core
Mountaineer Middle School acknowledges the value the related arts, we offer the following for the growth of our students:
Health and Physical Education
Media and Technology Education: 21st Century Skills
Foreign Languages: Spanish and German
Music: Band and Chorus
Art: Visual and graphic arts
Clubs: Beta, Spanish, Chess, Debate, Drama clubs, Student Council
Exploratory Classes: Yoga, Cake Making and Decorating, Music Appreciation 101, Reelin’ & Rollin’ Skating
Interscholastic Sports: Football, baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, cheerleading, and cross country track

13. Instructional Strategies
Relevant
Integrative
Challenging
E. Exploratory
Integrated Studies
21st Century Skills
Collaborative learning environments
Required Professional Staff Development throughout the school year

14. Instructional Grouping
MMS will participate in interdisciplinary teaming of students and teachers. Groups will have teams that include teachers, students of four core curriculum subjects. Each team will include approximately 20 students Teams will include students and teachers with diverse abilities and backgrounds.
Teams will include students and teachers will diverse abilities and backgrounds
Teams welcome student input and incorporate student interests
Teams develop instruction to meet local, state and national middle level standards
Teams meet with students and parents as a unit
Teams group and regroup based on students needs, and for best instructional methods
Teams help students build ownership in their education
Teams put students first, and the welfare of the students guides all decisions and actions

15. Exceptional Learning
MMS accommodates the needs of all learners. Identified exceptional learners will be placed with the appropriate services in accordance to their 504 plan or Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Learning Disabilities
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
Speech and Language Disorders
Developmental Disabilities
Intellectual Disabilities
Sensor Impairments
Academically and Intelligently Gifted

16. Families and Community Supporting Students
 Mountaineer Middle School will promote home-school partnerships that will actively involve the families.
Newsletters
Progress Reports
Report Cards
Parent-Teacher Conferences
School and Class Websites
Our school will partner with local businesses to provide new and exciting learning opportunities.
Field Trips
Guest Speakers

17. Families and Community Supporting MMS
Our school is an inviting, safe place that has a supportive community that promotes an in-depth learning environment that enhances both the students' physical and emotional well-being.
Research shows that it takes more than just a school alone to educate children; it takes the fundamental components of family and community involvement as well. Mountaineer Middle School demonstrates all the outstanding fundamentals, and commitment as being a developmentally responsive middle school that is relevant, challenging, integrative and exploratory.

18. Works Referenced
Jackson, Anthony, Gayle Andrews Davis, Maud Abeel, and Anne Bordonaro. Turning points 2000: educating adolescents in the 21st century. New York: Teachers College Press, Print. Powell, Sara Davis. Introduction to Middle School. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall, Print. This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents. Westerville, OH: Association for Middle Level Education, Print.