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Somersworth Middle School Highlights 2009-2010

 Somersworth Middle School has started the year with a great attitude and renewed purpose. During the summer, the Universal Team of the PBIS Program met a created a number of new initiatives to help get the year started on a positive note. This year the themes are Cooperation and Positive Climate. The group created an improved entry and exit supervision program for staff members that has worked great and helped us start the year off with fewer office referrals and a better attitude from students to start each day.  We have just completed the third year of our school improvement plan for reading and math. This year we will be working on using the professional development that we completed last year in every classroom. This implementation program will help turn the knowledge learned into student achievement.  Our plan for this year is focused on three areas; reading, math, and data analysis. We are waiting for approval and will begin the plan in November. The plan also includes a goal on improving school climate and motivation. We will be surveying staff, students and parents to learn more about what we can do to motivate the whole school community.   Somersworth Middle School has been a participant in the PBIS New Hampshire program since it began. We have served as a Demonstration Site for the state and have watched as the program has been adopted by the rest of the district. In working during the summer, the PBIS Universal Team also redefined the roles of the Targeted, Universal and Child Study Teams at SMS. The teams are working hard to take the new roles and develop procedures for them. These teams work with teachers, students, parents and the whole Somersworth Community to help students reach their potential. The Teams sponsored a roll out at the beginning of school to show students the appropriate behaviors and to model correct responses to different conflicts that happen during the school day.  The PBIS Universal Team from the Middle School collects and analyzes data each month, reporting to faculty and students the results, and makes initiatives to improve the climate at SMS. The program has been a great success. The Middle School has entered the third year of a partnership with the HUB to provide an after school program for students called “Somersworth Youth Connections.”  The program provides students with academic support, physical activities and life skills activities every afternoon at the school. Each day has an academic component that is connected to homework or tutoring for the students. There is a variety of activities that will include physical one such as yoga, karate, and sports. There are a number of craft activities such as scrap booking, pottery, cooking and art. There are field trips to local artisans and other educational places. This is an exciting opportunity for all of our students to explore new areas of interest in a secure, supportive environment. Over 50 students have signed up to participate this year. The program will be running each day from 2:30 to 5:30 PM.  This year we are starting a Chapter of “Youth to Youth” a group that works to inform and educate students about substance abuse. With the help of the United Way, we will be offering this program to our students. We are very excited about these programs which provide enrichment for students, engaging them in academic and exploratory activities that will expand their horizons in a supervised, supportive atmosphere.