What Not to Do
What to Do
Avalon's Mission Statement
It is our mission to help each and every child, no matter the obstacles, obtain that mystical thing known as knowledge. Every student can learn, they just learn at different rates and in different ways.
Yearly Objectives
The yearly objectives of Avalon Middle School are to:
1. Engage young adolescents in continuous discussion and assessment in their progress of obtaining our mission.
2. Guarantee that our offered programs are challenging, engaging, differentiated, responsive, and relevant to the needs of our students.
3. Sustain and follow the knowledge provided by relevant and accurate educational research and instructional strategies for young adolescents.
4. Encourage, support, and require faculty and staff members to pursue professional development to fulfill our mission.
5. Involve community leaders, volunteers, and families in meaningful ways to ensure student participation in the learning process.
6. Demonstrate best practices as supported by professional organizations such as the AMLE, NCTE, NCSS, and NCTM.
1. Engage young adolescents in continuous discussion and assessment in their progress of obtaining our mission.
2. Guarantee that our offered programs are challenging, engaging, differentiated, responsive, and relevant to the needs of our students.
3. Sustain and follow the knowledge provided by relevant and accurate educational research and instructional strategies for young adolescents.
4. Encourage, support, and require faculty and staff members to pursue professional development to fulfill our mission.
5. Involve community leaders, volunteers, and families in meaningful ways to ensure student participation in the learning process.
6. Demonstrate best practices as supported by professional organizations such as the AMLE, NCTE, NCSS, and NCTM.
Yearly Goal
Avalon Middle School aspires to offer a learning environment that is developmentally engaging, responsive, motivating, and fair for all our students in order to enrich their learning experience and enhance their desire to positively grow both educationally and emotionally.
Our Philosophy
Our school philosophy includes three important characteristics - the classroom should promote positive attitudes toward learning and problem solving, the children come first, and it is our job to aid the students in becoming better citizens in the community and the world. The philosophy that best addresses these three things is the progressive philosophy. This philosophy states:
- First, in order for students to learn to the best of their ability, they should feel optimistic about learning and the curriculum. In our opinion, the greatest way to do this is to get the students involved in the instruction. Most children are naturally curious, want to learn, and are less likely to “shut off” their brains when physically involved and interested in the content. When teachers do not allow students to make connections, it hampers their ability to truly understand the concepts and they will easily forget the knowledge imparted to them.
- Secondly, we feel that the students are the most important aspect in a school. They are who we, as a school, are trying to aid in the development and improvement of the mind and attitude. We value their opinions because we can learn from a student just as much as a student can learn from each of us. They can give us, as teachers, advice on how to better educate them, to improve the classroom environment, and to contextualize the curriculum and projects to appeal to their interests and backgrounds. It is their understanding of their meta-cognition that makes them such an important aspect of the classroom and school as a whole.
- Finally, we feel that a school plays a significant role in assisting students with the task of becoming improved citizens. This is why community involvement is strongly encouraged and continuously implemented into our instruction at Avalon Middle School. Also, group work can show students how democracy functions just as, if not more, easily than a lecturing history teacher. Giving students time to work together aids them in learning to cooperate in both an education and work setting. We also think that our teaching methods can enable students to solve their own problems while we act as guides in their adolescent growth.