Edu-Leadership

Be Confident Be Responsible Be Here Be On Time Be Friendly Be Polite Be a Good Listener Be a Doer Be a Tough Worker Be a Risk Taker Be a Goal Setter

High performance, partnerships, risk taking, goal setting, conflict resolution, team building, collaboration, communication, personal development, confidence, and ethics. This is Corporate America leading the way, defining success, creating a vision, developing a mission, doing business, and doing it right. These are words of Corporate America aren't they? Well yes, but they're also the words that guide the educational development and progress of the students at Wendler Middle School.

If ever there was a school that has a program in place that addresses the needs of its students, it's Wendler. From the Twelve Steps to Success, to a Celebration of Diversity, to Community Involvement, the staff at Wendler addresses the social, emotional, intellectual, psychological, and physical development of its students. Through clarity of purpose and vision, Wendler provides a pathway to success for its children, and a means of continuous parent involvement and community support. It exemplifies the true Middle School spirit. What parent could ask for more?

How does it do all this? We see evidence of careful and focused planning. For instance, they don't just say the word teaming, they define it, spell it out, and give us examples of what it looks like in action. They give us the who, what, where, when, and how--WOW! Just look at this one example:

Teams: In order to provide a supportive student-centered environment, Wendler Middle School is made up of teams of teachers and students. Students belong to a team whose teachers provide the core academic subjects. The team structure enables teachers to personally monitor the progress of the students on their team.

Blocked Time: Wendler teams are able to make use of blocked team time to schedule longer instructional blocks for labs and projects or to allow for special events such as field trips.

Team Planning: Wendler teachers have team planning time that allows them to jointly develop instructional units, plan team activities, and monitor student progress.

Wendler Teams: There are four teams each in the 7th and 8th grade making a total of eight teams altogether at Wendler. The teams' names are as follows:

7th Grade

Bison
Fox
Mink
Otter

8th Grade

Caribou
Elk
Lynx
Wolverine

Imagine if all schools did this! And there's plenty more to show and tell. Take a peek under the umbrella of success at Wendler Middle Schools with us. You'll see what we mean!