August 2009
Greetings! My name is Christine Avery and I am excited to begin another year
as principal of Meadowdale Middle School. This web profile is an opportunity
for me to introduce our focus for the year at MMS, as well as a little bit
about my personal life.
This year, CHANGE is a theme at MMS. Thankfully, our dedicated and loving
faculty are a constant as we face many internal and external changes. A very
obvious, external change is that we are building a new school alongside our
existing building. This school year will focus on building the new gymnasium
between our main building and old gymnasium. In March, we will demolish our
old gymnasium and music building to finish the new gymnasium. This presents
many logistical details to work out, but we have been problem-solving this
phase of construction since fall of 2008. The good news is that the fall of
2010 will highlight a new, 21st century gymnasium for our students, staff,
and community to enjoy. In the meantime, we are going to focus on being flexible
and patient as we work hard to maintain a sense of normalcy for our academic
programs, athletic programs, and overall student-life at MMS. My monthly newsletter
(which is posted on our school website) will include a monthly update of Construction-related
news for you to stay current and informed on the latest changes to our campus.
There are many less visible changes that are occurring at MMS, as well. First,
we have changed our bell schedule to promote academic achievement and recapture
lost instructional time by eliminating multiple transitions throughout the
school day. Now, Monday – Thursday we will host three periods per day
at 90 minutes each class period. This will promote the opportunity for a teacher
to plan, launch, and debrief each lesson by targeting instruction and frequently
monitoring student learning every class period. On Friday, we will host a
traditional bell schedule where our students visit every class for 50 minutes
per class period. We hope that your student experiences engaging lessons that
deliver curriculum in more depth.
At MMS, we care deeply about personalizing the learning experience for every
student. Therefore, this year, we are launching a tiered response to the academic
needs of our students to guarantee that every student is receiving the necessary
support to experience success in middle school. We now have a Tier I, Tier
II, and Tier III academic intervention model that is based upon the Response
to Intervention research.
Our Tier I program is our regular education program that serves approximately
90% of our students. The research shows that if we have implemented research-based,
best practices in reading, writing, math, and science, then we should have
a minimum of 85% of our students at standard in those areas on the state exam.
Our current reality is that we do not have 85% of our students at standard
in these areas, so we have developed a plan to improve upon the following
areas in our core academic program at MMS: 1) Target Instruction, 2) Frequently
Monitor Student Learning, 3) Teachers work collaboratively in a Professional
Learning Community with a commitment to continuous improvement.
Next, our Tier II program is designed to provide quarter-long or semester-long
academic support in either math, science, or reading to students that need
more intensive targeted instruction and frequent monitoring to identify and
improve a very specific academic skill. Theoretically, approximately 10-15%
of the total student population should need this brief and targeted intervention
to achieve standard. Since, our Tier I program is not meeting the needs of
all students we have more students than expected being identified for a Tier
II intervention. Our priority is to improve our Tier I program to align statistically
with the Response to Intervention model research and reduce the number of
students in our school qualifying for more intensive interventions than already
offered in our regular education program. We believe that our commitment to
developing a personalized learning experience for every student will guarantee
success in our Tier I and Tier II programs.
Finally, our Tier III program serves our students with Individual Education
Plans and it is the most intensive targeted instruction and frequently monitored
program at MMS. This serves approximately 10% of our student population in
our special programs, such as Learning Support, Intensive Support, and Lifeskills.
Inherently these are our students where learning is difficult for them, but
at MMS we have matched our most compassionate, talented, and inspirational
teachers with these students. I believe that ALL students can learn and we
will be successful with the students served in our Tier III program, too.
In summary, a major change at MMS is developing and maintaining a very narrow
focus with our professional development to increase the teachers’ capacity
to meet the needs of every student at MMS. I am hopeful and excited to receive
our 2010 WASL scores next summer, because I know that with this plan we will
have improved academic achievement.
This year, I celebrate my 15th year in education! I began my career as a biology, integrated science, and leadership teacher at Monroe High School. For ten years in Monroe, I enjoyed serving as a Cheer Advisor, ASB Advisor, and Junior Class Advisor, because I was able to develop strong relationships with students and their families. In 2004, I accepted my first administrative position as Assistant Principal of Meadowdale High School. I loved my two years at MHS, because I adore the staff and I felt comfortable in the Meadowdale community. Now, that I begin my sixth year in the Meadowdale community, I am familiar with many families and I care deeply about strengthening this community with excellence in education.
I live in Woodinville with my supportive and loving husband, Brian, and our
two children. Brian and I were raised in Kirkland and are both Huskies! Beri,
my daughter, loves to snow ski, play select soccer, and play the drums. Drew,
my son, enjoys swimming, snow skiing, and playing baseball, soccer, and basketball.
As a family, we enjoy snow skiing, water sports, Lake Chelan, BBQ with friends
& family, gardening, and walks to the park. I feel fortunate to have a
healthy and happy family.
My career in education has been incredibly fulfilling and rewarding –
thank you for letting me serve your children.
Welcome to Meadowdale Middle School and I look forward to meeting you.
Sincerely,
Christine Avery, Principal