2008-2009
Dear Middle School Students, Parents, and Guardians,
Welcome to Gray-New Gloucester Middle School. The Middle School is a learning community that offers many exciting opportunities for students to experience academic, social, and emotional growth. Members of our faculty and staff are highly qualified and experienced in meeting the unique educational needs of early adolescent students.
Our grade levels are organized into teams. Each team consists of 2 teachers with the exception of one 3 teacher team in the eighth grade. Small teams allow students, parents, and teachers to get to know each other very well and develop a rapport that can maximize student growth and learning. Teams often plan events and/or field trips that emphasize their own team learning goals and unit themes. Aside from the core curriculum taught by the faculty of each team, we have a Unified Arts team that exposes students to a broad range of subject matter. Physical education, health, art, computer technology, Spanish, music & performing arts, technology, and library research courses all provide students with active learning experiences beyond the realm of their core courses. Beyond the hours of the regular school day, students participate in athletics and various student organizations and clubs including an active Civil Rights team, National Junior Honor Society, Yearbook and Drama clubs, and Student Council. We also have a support system in place to help students who may struggle with completing assignments and/or need additional help called Academic Assistance. This program is intended to provide additional time and teacher support to students who get behind in their class work. It is one of several programs that we have in place to help all students be successful and meet the standards of the Maine Learning Results and the MSAD 15 curriculum.
Communication between home and school is an essential component to student success. We use many strategies to help maintain strong communication. All students are provided with a planner to record daily assignments, projects, and important dates. All teachers check and mark each planner at the end of every class. By using a password, parents can regularly check the grades and progress of students online. This year the District will be using another communication tool called SchoolMessenger. This will generate automated messages about various topics to parents who want to participate in this program. We encourage parents, students, and faculty to meet, phone, or e-mail whenever necessary to clarify school matters, discuss concerns, or share information specific to an individual student. Additionally, we would like parents and students to feel free to contact either one of us at any time a question or concern arises or you would like to share your thoughts with us. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you.
This promises to be a wonderful school year. We look forward to working with you.Sincerely,
Sherry L. Levesque, Principal Geoffrey K. Robbins, Assistant Principal
