Mendenhall Middle School

 

At William Mendenhall Middle School, we strive to meet the needs of all students through dedication to a rigorous, relevant academic curriculum. We provide a number of academically challenging opportunities for our students, including National History Day, Math Counts and Science Odyssey. Middle school is a time of discovery and blossoming independence, and the staff strives to provide challenges and support to help students develop both academically and socially. As the staff embraces multiple tiered systems of support, we work to provide interventions that increase the amount of time and support offered to students both during and outside of the school day. By first focus- ing on ensuring the majority of students are learning in the classroom, teachers and administrators work to provide the extra time and support to our struggling learners outside of class through a midday study hall, math intervention classes, study-skills classes and after-school homework clubs. We also offer intervention within the school day for students who struggle with reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. These courses provide students with training in reciprocal teaching of grade-level material so that they have multiple opportunities to interact with text. Mendenhall is a special educational environment because of the collective commitments on the part of stu- dents, parents, staff and administration to ensure a quality educational program. In the 2017-18 school year, Mendenhall became a BYOD school. Students may bring their own devices or check out a Chromebook from the school for the school year. The staff is committed to the SAMR model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition), in which teachers use technology, not as a mere substitute for paper and pencil, but to challenge students to think more critically and creatively.