Meeting in the Middle
by Dave Bowen
Crestview Middle School Principal/Athletic Administrator

Excitement and enthusiasm reigns as Crestview adopts the middle school concept for the 2011-12 school year.  Implementing the middle school concept will provide a greater focus for us as educators to help our young people travel through the late pre-teen and early teen years.  We will begin by having the middle school encompass grades seven and eight with a desire to include our sixth graders in the future.

What is the middle school concept?  It is a desire to develop even more of a student-centered approach with our young people at this age level.  Our middle school students face many challenges at the academic and social level and it is our desire to make a paradigm shift to help them transition into their high school years effectively.  We will take a major step in this direction by having our middle school core teachers (math, science, social studies, language arts, and special education) work together to evaluate, direct, and discuss the needs of each individual student at their grade level continually.

How did the desire to implement the middle school concept come about?  During the 2010-11 school year, the Crestview PRIDE (Personal Responsibility in Developing Excellence) committee was formed.  This committee’s focus has been to evaluate our academic progress as a school system and look for identifiable areas of improvement, especially as it relates to those specific areas measured on the state report card.  With this in mind, one component that the PRIDE committee has thoroughly reviewed is the academic direction of our sixth, seventh, and eight grade students.  Implementing the middle school concept evolved from several PRIDE discussions, visits to neighboring school districts, and professional development opportunities.  We have worked diligently to create and implement this program and philosophy without the addition of new staff members.  It simply has been amazing to see the committee develop and present ideas with an outstanding educational rationale and see the administration and staff work together to make it happen for what we believe is the betterment of our students.

It will be an exciting time as we embark on this journey as Crestview Middle School.  I am excited to take on the leadership role as principal at this level.  Our students and staff are taking a step in a new direction to further show that “Excellence is Our Tradition!”  Go Knights!