THIRTEEN MIDDLE SCHOOLS RECOGNIZED AS “SCHOOLS TO WATCH”
THREE NEW SCHOOLS & TEN SCHOOLS RE-DESIGNATED
ANNOUNCED IN PENNSYLVANIA
Mechanicsburg, PA - Three more exemplary Middle Grades Schools in Pennsylvania have been
named PA Don Eichhorn Schools: “Schools to Watch” (PA STW) as part of a recognition
program developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. In partnership
with the Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education, Duquesne University, Edinboro
University, the Horace Mann Service Corporation and Vibra Life, the Pennsylvania “Schools to
Watch” team has announced that the following new schools have met the strict STW criteria:
Andrew W. Mellon Middle School, Mt. Lebanon SD, Pittsburgh, PA
Hampton Middle School, Hampton Township SD, Allison Park, PA,
Palisades Middle School, Palisades SD,
Kintnersville, PA.
These three schools join 38 other Pennsylvania middle-grades schools recognized previously.
The three newest schools as well as the ten re-designated schools will be recognized at the
Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education State Conference at the Penn Stater
Conference Center in State College on February 24, 2019. They will be recognized nationally
with all the other recognized STW schools across the country in Washington DC at the
National Forum’s National Schools to Watch Conference on June 27-29, 2019.
State leaders selected each school for its Academic Excellence, Developmental
Responsiveness, Social Equity and Organizational Structures and Processes. In addition, each
school has strong leadership, teachers who work together to improve curriculum and
instruction, and a commitment to assessment and accountability to bring about continuous
improvement.
Bruce Vosburgh, President of the National Forum, as well as the PA State STW
Director, stated, “We congratulate these schools for being places that do great things for their students. These schools demonstrate that high-performing middle grades schools are
places that focus on academic growth and achievement. They are also places that recognize
the importance of meeting the needs of all of their students and ensure that every child has
access to a challenging, high-quality education.”
The Schools to Watch selection process is based on a written application that required
schools to show how they met criteria developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle
Grades Reform. Schools that appeared to meet the criteria were then visited by state teams,
which observed classrooms, interviewed administrators, teachers, students, and parents, and
looked at achievement data, suspension rates, quality of lessons, and student work. Schools
are recognized for a three-year period, and at the end of three years, they must demonstrate
progress on specific goals in order to be re-designated. Unlike the Blue Ribbon recognition
program, “Schools to Watch” requires schools to not just identify strengths, but to also focus
on areas for continuous improvement; thus the three year re-designation.
