VISION STATEMENT
Every school has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and procedures by which the school makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a school stays faithful to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder engagement, the trends and issues affecting the school, and the kinds of programs and services that a school implements to support student learning.
The purpose of the Vision Statement is to provide schools with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the school community will have a more complete picture of how the school perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This statement is structured for the school to reflect on how it provides teaching and learning on a day-to-day basis. Mission Statement: The mission of Gardner Newman Middle School is to meet students' needs by providing quality educational and personal growth opportunities ensuring success in our ever-changing world.
Our commitment is to guide and inspire students to be responsible, productive citizens, to nurture students to achieve full potential in the classroom, to maximize students' intellectual, artistic, technological, and physical abilities, and to seize every opportunity to learn and achieve.
Gardner Newman Middle School (GNMS) is one of three middle schools in LaGrange, Troup County, Georgia. LaGrange has approximately 30,000 residents and is located seventy miles southwest of Atlanta and fifteen miles from Alabama. LaGrange has a number of Fortune 500 companies including KIA, Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart, and Proctor & Gamble (Duracell). LaGrange and Troup County are home to a diverse population that includes families from South Korea, Central America, and South America. Challenges associated with a multi-cultural community such as language barriers are mitigated by awareness and appreciation of people of various countries. Additionally, the newly established KIA automotive plant and feeder industries have significantly and positively impacted the employment rate in Troup County and surrounding areas.
GNMS has 1,100 students and is a feeder school to LaGrange High School. Forty-seven percent of the students are white, forty-four percent are black, three percent are Hispanic, and two percent are Asian. Three percent of students identify themselves as multi-racial. Fifty-two percent are male, and forty-eight percent are female. Sixty-one percent of students are economically disadvantaged (ED), ten percent have disabilities (SWD), and twenty percent are identified as gifted. Student enrollment for sixth grade is 369; seventh grade enrollment is 371, and eighth grade enrollment is 346.
Of the seventy-five certified staff members, one hundred percent are highly qualified. Nineteen percent have a bachelor's degree, forty-nine percent have a master's degree, thirty-one percent have a specialist degree, and one percent has a doctorate. The faculty is twenty-nine percent minority and twenty-one percent male. Administration consists of one principal and three assistant principals. One of the assistant principals is also the registrar. The school has three school counselors, a graduation coach, a Response to Intervention (RTI) specialist, a media specialist, one band teacher, one chorus teacher, one art teacher, eleven exceptional education teachers, four physical education teachers, twelve paraprofessionals, fourteen sixth grade teachers, thirteen seventh-grade teachers, and thirteen eighth grade teachers. Fifteen of the teachers are gifted certified.
Gardner Newman Middle School has many strengths. In reviewing data from the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), students are making progress in most areas.
In reading, in 2012, ninety-six percent of students met/exceeded (passed) the CRCT. Eighty-four percent of students with disabilities (SWD) passed, and ninety-four percent of economically disadvantaged (ED) students passed. Fifty-two percent of white students exceeded standards
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In math, eighty-three percent of students passed. In 7th grade, ninety-four percent passed, and forty-two percent exceeded in math. Eighty- nine percent of 7th grade SWD students passed the CRCT.
In English/Language Arts, ninety-four percent of the students passed the CRCT, and forty-one percent exceeded in 7th and 8th grades over a three-year period (three year average). In two years (from 2010 to 2012), the pass rate of students with disabilities jumped from thirty-two percent to seventy-four percent.
In science, eighty-three percent of students passed the CRCT, and forty-four percent exceeded. The pass rate for 7th grade students with disabilities increased thirty-eight points from 2009 to 2012.
In social studies over a four-year period, 6th and 8th grade students who passed the CRCT increased by fourteen percent, and the same group of students who exceeded the CRCT also increased by fourteen percent.
Based on the AdvancED staff surveys from 2011-12, ninety-five percent of GNMS staff are knowledgeable about school purpose and direction.
While Gardner Newman Middle School has strengths, as with any school, it also has weaknesses that the staff and stakeholders try to mitigate with strategies outlined in the school improvement plan. Based on surveys, perception data indicates a disparity between staff perception and that of parents and students. For example, ninety-five percent of staff understands the purpose and direction of the school; yet, only sixty percent of parents and students understand the purpose and direction. All groups (parents, students, and staff) reported that teaching and assessing for learning is an area of weakness. GNMS is intent on overcoming these negative parent and student perceptions. The school has increased parent communication by providing daily announcements via email; sending home monthly grade-level and school- wide newsletters; providing current marquee and website information; and requiring teachers to make five positive contacts with parents weekly. In addition, the school will revise the 5th-to-6th grade orientation to include a Parent Student Get-together in May. Also, we have improved the appearance of the school by adding signage, beautifying the school grounds, and painting and cleaning the inside of the building
Another area of weakness is in the area of classroom management strategies to support positive student behavior. Last year, GNMS reported one hundred nineteen students who were placed in In-School Suspension for ten or more days, thirty-seven students who were placed out of school (OSS) for ten or more days, and one hundred twenty-five students who were absent for fifteen days or more. The school improvement plan provides for professional development, strategies, and interventions in classroom management. Also, the school system recognizes a need in providing professional development in ways to engage students in their own learning.
Writing is an area of relative weakness, as evidenced by consistently modest scores on the 8th Grade Georgia Writing Assessment. Seventy- four percent of eighth graders passed in 2012, and only eleven percent exceeded the assessment. Of equal concern is the fact that only one percent of black students exceeded the writing assessment. Only twenty-nine percent of SWD students passed the test. These scores have been consistent over four years.
Math continues to be a subject that needs attention. Scores on the CRCT reflect a gap in the achievement of black and white students. In sixth grade, eighty-nine percent of students passed the test, but only sixty-two percent of black students passed. In seventh grade, the gap was much smaller (ninety-six percent pass rate for white students as compared to ninety percent pass rate for black students), but the gap between white and black students exceeding the math test was thirty-two percentage points, which was the same gap as in 8th grade.