2 Hempfield sites named among Schools to Watch
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Recognized for their high performance and willingness to improve, two Hempfield middle schools were named Schools to Watch by the Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education.
Awarded to Harrold and West Hempfield middle schools, Schools to Watch is a recognition program based on four main criteria: academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity and organizational support and processes.
Working from a 12 page rubric, the criteria, set by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, is judged on a self-evaluation completed by teachers and faculty and by a group of superintendents, teachers and principals who are part of the Pa. Association for Middle Level Education.
“It’s actually a really great honor for us,” said Harrold Principal Jason Lochner. “It’s extremely rare that schools get recognized the first time they apply for it. It’s a huge undertaking and it’s actually one of the nicest recognitions you can receive.”
According to Lochner, Harrold stood out because of a newly implemented program that focuses on teaching proper behavior in the hallway, on a school bus, in the cafeteria and more. Kids who need further guidance on lessons will be assigned a mentor who will touch base with the child daily. Incentives and rewards are given for positive behavior.
“I have a great team of teachers who undertook it,” Lochner said. “It usually takes three years to get programs up and running. We got it fully up and running in eight months.”
West Hempfield Middle School Principal Deanna Mikesic did not return calls and emails for comment.
Started during the 2006-07 school year, Schools to Watch is designated based on a written application, a rubric, observations of classrooms, achievement data, suspension rates, quality of lessons, student work and interviews with administrators, teachers, students and parents.
The program originally was started in honor of Don Eichhorn, a former doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh and superintendent at schools in Lewisburg, who published a study showing that children between 10 and 14 years old have unique physical characteristics, establishing the framework for the School to Watch designation.
Today, more than 40 schools in Pennsylvania have been named Schools to Watch, and the program has been extended to 17 states.
While the program focuses on strengths, it also requires officials to focus on areas that need improvement. Schools hold the award for three years before they have the option to apply for a re-designation, said Bruce Vosburgh, director of the Pennsylvania School to Watch program. To be awarded a re-designation, schools must show progress on specific goals, he said.
The goal is to have schools reapply every three years to keep teachers and principals motivated, continuing to move their school forward, he said.
This year, three middle schools were re-designated for the first time — Sharpsville Middle School in Mercer County, Springton Lakes in Media and Garnet Valley in Glen Mills, both in Delaware County.
Two middle schools — Northley in Aston, Delaware County, and Schuylkill Valley in Leesport, Berks County — were re-designated for the second time while Canonsburg Middle School in Washington County, Ryan Gloyer Middle School in Harmony, Butler County and Yellow Breeches in Boiling Springs, Cumberland County were awarded re-designations for a third time.
Boyce Middle School and Fort Couch Middle School in Upper St. Clair were re-designated for a fourth time.
“This is about the programs that work and the programs that don’t work, future initiatives where you see yourself going,” Vosburgh said. “We take a lot in stock of what they say they’re going to do and what have they done.”
Harrold and West Hempfield officials will attend the National Forum’s National Schools to Watch Conference in Washington, D.C., June 24-27.