VAMLE President

PRESIDENT’S POINT - Stuart Weiss, VAMLE President

Assistant Principal, Frederick H Tuttle Middle School

“Make This A Year to Get Connected”

“Making Connections” is the theme this year at the Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School where I have the pleasure of working each day with the great faculty, staff and students who are in the middle. We chose this theme because it is so important for our middle school students to see the connections to the world around them. Whether it’s the connections of interdisciplinary curriculum, friendship and team building, or our local, state, national or world community, our students are ready to become connected. The same is true for all of us. As part of the dynamic institution called middle school we need to continue to make connections.

This can take the form of working with our teammates, parents, students and administrators to build strong meaningful curriculum for our schools; creating service learning projects and other ways of interacting with our communities; and using the ever expanding communication tools of technology to help our students see themselves as part of an interdependent global community.Our schools need to follow the goals set forth in Success in the Middle put out by the National Middle School Association (NMSA).
Ensure that all middle level students participate in challenging, standards-based curricula and engaging instruction, and that their progress is measured by appropriate assessments, resulting in continual learning and high achievement.
Support the recruitment and hiring of teachers and administrators who have strong content knowledge and the ability to use research-based instructional strategies and assessment practices appropriate for middle level students.

Support organizational structures and a school culture of high expectations that enable both middle level students and educators to succeed.
Develop ongoing family and community partnerships to provide a supportive and enriched learning environment for every middle level student.

Facilitate the generation, dissemination, and application of research needed to identify and implement effective practices that lead to continual student learning and high academic achievement at the middle level.
We also have a responsibility to try and connect with each other. As the pressure to make sure our students do well according to the criteria set by NCLB increases, it is important that we continue to push what we know to be right for middle school students.

To this end let’s make this a year to get connected. Join VAMLE, attend the Tri-State Conference on November 1st, and look for professional development that strengthens your middle school program and your instruction. Make this the year that Vermont sends the largest group to the NELMS annual conference at the end of March. What ever you do, I hope that this year is a great one for you and your students and that you really connect.