OHIO SCHOOLS TO WATCH: Ohio Department of Education redesignates Mayfield Middle School with honor
MAYFIELD CITY SCHOOLS: Mayfield Middle School was redesignated an Ohio Schools to Watch by the Ohio Department of Education. The Ohio Schools to Watch Reaching for the Stars is a program that seeks to recognize diverse, high-performing, growth-oriented middle level schools to demonstrate what all middle level schools are capable of achieving.
"Together as a team, as a middle school family, we earned this," said MMS Principal Paul Destino. "This is an honor that reflects every student, every teacher, every staff member, administrator, parent, volunteer and community supporter. Our achievement and growth isn't done in isolation behind closed doors. We come together out in the open to talk and brainstorm, to fix the pieces that are broken and to build upon our strengths so we get better for our students and give them every individual opportunity they need to be the best student they can."
What does it mean to be an “Ohio School to Watch?”
The Ohio Schools to Watch program seeks to recognize a small number of diverse, high-performing, growth-oriented middle grades schools to demonstrate what all middle grades schools are capable of achieving.
The OSTW program identifies high-performing, middle-grade schools that are:
Academically excellent—challenge all students to use their mind well;
Developmentally responsive—sensitive to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescence;
Socially equitable—democratic and fair, providing every student with high-quality teachers, resources and supports; and
Organizational structure is in place to enable aforementioned three characteristics.
Schools to Watch® is an initiative launched by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform in 1999. Through the Schools to Watch initiative, the National Forum identifies schools across the United States that are well on their way to meeting the Forum's FOUR CRITERIA for high-performing, middle level schools.