PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Welcome to Mt. Pleasant Middle School!

Mt. Pleasant Middle School educates all sixth grade students in the Livingston School District. The reconfiguration of our two district middle schools in September 2002 was the result of over three years of planning by the district Long Range Planning Committee and the Transition Task Force. All seventh and eighth grade students now attend Heritage Middle School.

The Mt. Pleasant faculty and staff are very excited about the upcoming school year. They are eager to repeat the success of our opening year while continually refining quality middle school practices. Parents were very supportive of the reconfiguration despite some initial skepticism prior to the change. What makes this all grade six program special? We constructed the program to have a singular focus on what transpires in the life of a sixth grader. We learned that we could delay the impact of peer pressure and influences from older students. We found that we intervened earlier on small social and emotional development problems that might have been normally overlooked in the past when administrators and student support service personnel energies were consumed by more serious issues transpiring in the lives of older middle level students. We focused on the development of social problem solving and decision-making skills as a deterrent to becoming either a bully or a victim of harassment. Our teachers and counselors were able to devote all of their energies to meeting the needs of the children, and communicate about their work with students' parents. The students enjoyed having a school of their own; they had the opportunity to make suggestions and tailor student activities to meet their needs without social pressure from the older age groups. The over-all consensus from students and parents in 2002-03 was that this is a school that works well, and they truly enjoyed being a part of it.

The current enrollment for the upcoming school year is approximately 382 students. Each student will be assigned to one of the four academic teams. The teams are comprised of faculty who teach integrated reading and language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Art, family and consumer science, integrated business applications, and technology teachers join in team planning during the marking period cycle in which they teach a particular teams' students. Sixth grade students also take world language (Spanish or French) and general music on an alternating A/B day basis. Physical Education and Health offered five days per week round out the schedule along with a thirty-minute lunch. The academic class schedule is arranged to enable teaching teams to flex time and plan integrated instruction.

The final period of each day is devoted to the advisory/support period. During this time, students may elect to participate in band, orchestra and chorus; participate in selected enrichment activities under the auspices of the gifted and talented program; or receive additional instruction in basic skills. Students spend this time reading personally selected novels, or they may seek extra help from their teachers. On alternate days the music students return to the advisory/support class to access their teachers. Advisory classes are scheduled on specific days during this time period to address school-wide issues, and the social and emotional concerns of the students.

We offer a co-curricular program designed to provide students with opportunities to explore areas of interest and form connections with their school beyond the classroom. Activities include the drama, health, chess, movie, photography, scrapbooking clubs, and the stage crew. We have a school yearbook, newspaper and literary magazine for those who whish to pursue literary creativity and journalism. Membership in student council is open to all students. The council will select home base representatives and "members at large". The student council proposes activities to be enjoyed by the whole school and provides input to the Principal. Students may wish to try out for three dramatic plays that are presented during the fall, winter and spring seasons. Members of the band, orchestra, and chorus may also tryout for special groups - the jazz band, the orchestra ensemble, and Showstoppers who perform at various school and community functions throughout the year and participate in adjudication festivals. Intramural sports are conducted in the morning before school starts and after school to accommodate the sports interests of the student body. Students sign up their teams for participation in the sport under current study in the physical education curriculum. There are no interscholastic sports at Mt. Pleasant.

We invite you to peruse our web pages. Look back for team updates. We will also run a daily bulletin board to apprise everyone of what is happening at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. Please feel free to email the principal at [email protected] with comments or questions.

Pam Clause McGroarty

Principal