Scituate+Middle+School


 * Scituate Middle School ** Scituate School District Hannah Gardner

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 * //Scituate Middle School is committed to producing life-long learners by providing all students an academically challenging integrated curriculum in partnership with the community within a safe and respectful environment while supporting their unique educational, physical, emotional and social needs.//

Introduction
Middle school is a time for both academic and personal growth for all adolescents. One of the most important factors that makes growth occur is the environment in which it takes place. Scituate Middle School has a comfortable environment for positive growth. Located in the rural part of central Rhode Island, the middle school is on the same campus as the high school on Trimtown Road in North Scituate. With a small student body and teachers that are passionate about their concentrations, it is no surprise that a majority of the students achieve academic excellence. The faculty at Scituate Middle School is dedicated to education and has clear expectations for the students. In addition, most of the students are interested in learning and willing to engage in academic growth. The environment of Scituate Middle School is formed by its demographics, how the students feel about the school, the teachers' views of the students and the health and well-being of the adolescents. These factors shape the academic performance of Scituate Middle School's students. The information presented below will demonstrate this for parents, students, teachers, and student teachers who may want to become part of Scituate Middle School.

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Demographics

 * Scituate Middle School is a small public school that educated 453 students from 6th grade to 8th grade. Although the student population is small, the building facilities are not suitable for the students. Not only is the building not adequate in size, but also is connected to the high school, which causes conflicts in scheduling. One of the major recommendations the SALT team made after visiting the middle school is that it should try to get funding for a better middle school facility. **** **** On the other hand, the students were found by the SALT team to work hard to meet their goals. **** **** With 50 teachers at the school, the student: teacher ratio is 9:1, which makes the school community very close-knit. The school lacks diversity though since 95% of the students are Caucasian, 2% are Asian American, 2% are Hispanic, and 1% are African American. **** **** Of those students, a majority live with both of their parents (76%) and most of the rest of the students live with only their mother (12%) or parent and stepparent (8%). **** **** As one can see, Scituate Middle School is a close-knit school community. **

School Environment
Overall, most of the students feel comfortable in Scituate Middle School’s environment. Although only 15% of the students feel comfortable talking to a teacher about personal problems most or all of the time, almost half of the students (46%) are comfortable talking to them about academic issues most or all of the time.** ** One of the commendations that the SALT team said about the teachers is that they have clear expectations for the students and create a community-based environment so that it is a positive environment.** ** In addition, only 10% of the students report not getting along with a teacher is a moderate to big hassle.** ** Furthermore, 12% of the students reported being teased at school is a moderate to big hassle and 13% reported someone tried to sell them drugs one or more times at school.** ** Although these numbers are larger than many parents would normally like, they are still shown as not a major problem at Scituate Middle School. One major problem is theft. Compared to the 20% of students in the state, many students (32%) report being robbed at least one time while at Scituate Middle School.** ** Although there are some factors that may make students uncomfortable in school, most of the data shows that the school environment is overall a comfortable place to learn.

Another factor that shapes the Scituate Middle School environment is the relationships that are formed between students and teachers. According to the teachers at the school, most students have attitudes toward their education that makes the environment a positive place for learning. Teachers say that 89% of the students follow directions, 77% give their best effort, and 90% work well with others.** ** Furthermore, 4% are disruptive in class, 1% of the students are aggressive, and 3% are defiant and stubborn.** ** Looking at the statistics, one can see that a majority of the students are well behaved and do not have characteristics that would disrupt the learning process.



Health & Well-Being
Looking at the SALT Report data for Scituate High School, the students there are healthy and active. Most of the students do not participate in risky behaviors; only small percentages do. Five percent of the students used chewing tobacco, 7% used illegal drugs, 8% smoked cigarettes, and 14% drank alcohol at least once. ** ** All of this data is recorded “within the past 30 days”. As for nutrition and physical activity, only 13% of the students did not eat fruits or vegetables within the last day. ** ** Moreover, 46% of the students participate in intramural or interscholastic sports through schools and 54% play youth sports in the community. ** ** On the other hand, 47% of the adolescents in Scituate watch at least two hours of television on the average school day and 25% use instant message, check email, or visit chat rooms at least 2 hours a day during the school week. ** ** Although about half of the students participate in physical activities, about half of them also watch 2 or more hours of TV during the day. ** ** As for the mental health of the students, most seem to be in high spirits. Out of all the students, 35% have problems with acne, being overweight, being underweight, being too tall, or being too short. ** ** These are all typical traits to have problems with since many physical changes occur during puberty. Furthermore, the teachers classify only 4% of the students as being depressed, 4% as being nervous, frightened, or tense, and 5% as being anxious. ** ** Scituate Middle School students are healthy and physical active, which helps in the long run with their academic performance.

Academic Performance
The demographics of the students, the school environment, and the health and wellness of the children at Scituate Middle School all affect their academic performances. Since most of the data shows Scituate Middle School as an excellent place for educating to take place (after all the school is a "high performing and commended" school according to the No Child Left Behind Report Card ), it is not surprising that a majority of the students are proficient in reading, math, and writing according to Rhode Island's standards. Looking at the data table below, one can see that about half, if not more than half, of the students in each grade are proficient in the subject they were tested on.** ** Rhode Island schools typically are stronger in reading than in math so although 18% of 6th graders, 21% of 7th graders, and 23% of 8th graders are only partially proficient in math, this is not abnormal.** ** In addition, it is obvious that reading is emphasized at the middle school since 21% of 6th graders, 34% of 7th graders, and 25% of 8th graders are proficient with distinction in reading.** ** Furthermore, 52% of 6th graders, 38% of 7th graders, and 32% of 8th graders read 11 - 30 minutes a day and 22% of 6th graders, 29% of 7th graders, and 28% of 8th graders read 31 - 60 minutes a day.** ** According to the SALT report, some of the students are not willing to challenge themselves but it recommended that the teachers encourage students to work independently, especially in reading, as well as continue to work hard to teach effective problem solving.** ** Scituate Middle School is a school with academic excellence according to the data, especially in reading, but can still continue to improve the math proficiency of its students.


 * = Assessment ||= Proficient with distinction ||= Proficient ||= Partially proficient ||= Substantially below proficient ||
 * = 6th grade reading ||= 21% ||= 60% ||= 17% ||= 2% ||
 * = 6th grade math ||= 18% ||= 53% ||= 18% ||= 11% ||
 * = 7th grade reading ||= 34% ||= 53% ||= 9% ||= 5% ||
 * = 7th grade math ||= 19% ||= 53% ||= 21% ||= 7% ||
 * = 8th grade reading ||= 25% ||= 62% ||= 10% ||= 2% ||
 * = 8th grade math ||= 19% ||= 48% ||= 23% ||= 10% ||
 * = 8th grade writing ||= 15% ||= 57% ||= 23% ||= 6% ||

**Conclusion** Looking at the data above, one can see Scituate Middle School appears to be an excellent place for a middle school education. Most of the students want to learn and know what is expected of them since teachers have clear expectations. In addition, students feel comfortable at the school and the teachers hold them to high standards. Most of the students participate in extracurriculars and have healthy habits concerning their diets and avoiding risky behavior. Because of these characteristics, Scituate Middle School students perform well academically and thus have academic and personal growth throughout their time at the school. Although there are some improvements that could be made such as building improvements and improving math scores but overall Scituate Middle School fulfills its mission of producing life-long learners by providing all students an academically challenging integrated curriculum in partnership with the community within a safe and respectful environment while supporting their unique educational, physical, emotional and social needs.