2010 - Blue Ribbon Schools Program
Type of School: (Check all that apply) / []Charter / []Title I / []Magnet / []Choice
Name of Principal: Ms. Karen Burnett
Official School Name: Northern Middle School
School Mailing Address:
2954 Chaneyville Road
Owings, MD 20735-9665
County: Calvert State School Code Number*: 315
Telephone: (410) 257-1622 Fax: (410) 257-1623
Web site/URL: http://nmsweb.calvertnet.k12.md.us/E-mail:
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge all information is accurate.
Date
(Principal‘s Signature)
Name of Superintendent*: Dr. Jack Smith
District Name: Calvert Tel: (410) 535-1700
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date
(Superintendent‘s Signature)
Name of School Board President/Chairperson: Mr. William Phalen
I have reviewed the information in this application, including the eligibility requirements on page 2 (Part I - Eligibility Certification), and certify that to the best of my knowledge it is accurate.
Date
(School Board President‘s/Chairperson‘s Signature)
*Private Schools: If the information requested is not applicable, write N/A in the space.
The original signed cover sheet only should be converted to a PDF file and emailed to Aba Kumi, Blue Ribbon Schools Project Manager () or mailed by expedited mail or a courier mail service (such as Express Mail, FedEx or UPS) to Aba Kumi, Director, Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Office of Communications and Outreach, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Room 5E103, Washington, DC 20202-8173
The signatures on the first page of this application certify that each of the statements below concerning the school‘s eligibility and compliance with U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) requirements is true and correct.
1. The school has some configuration that includes one or more of grades K-12. (Schools on the same campus with one principal, even K-12 schools, must apply as an entire school.)
2. The school has made adequate yearly progress each year for the past two years and has not been identified by the state as “persistently dangerous” within the last two years.
3. To meet final eligibility, the school must meet the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirement in the 2009-2010 school year. AYP must be certified by the state and all appeals resolved at least two weeks before the awards ceremony for the school to receive the award.
4. If the school includes grades 7 or higher, the school must have foreign language as a part of its curriculum and a significant number of students in grades 7 and higher must take the course.
5. The school has been in existence for five full years, that is, from at least September 2004.
6. The nominated school has not received the Blue Ribbon Schools award in the past five years, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 or 2009.
7. The nominated school or district is not refusing OCR access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a district-wide compliance review.
8. OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the school district concluding that the nominated school or the district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if OCR has accepted a corrective action plan from the district to remedy the violation.
9. The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that the nominated school or the school district as a whole has violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution‘s equal protection clause.
10. There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the school or school district in question; or if there are such findings, the state or district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings.
PART II - DEMOGRAPHIC DATAAll data are the most recent year available.
DISTRICT (Questions 1-2 not applicable to private schools)
1. Number of schools in the district: (per district designation) / 13 / Elementary schools (includes K-8)6 / Middle/Junior high schools
4 / High schools
1 / K-12 schools
24 / TOTAL
2. District Per Pupil Expenditure: 11195
SCHOOL (To be completed by all schools)
3. Category that best describes the area where the school is located:
[ ] Urban or large central city
[ ] Suburban school with characteristics typical of an urban area
[ ] Suburban
[ X ] Small city or town in a rural area
[ ] Rural
4. 4 Number of years the principal has been in her/his position at this school.
5. Number of students as of October 1 enrolled at each grade level or its equivalent in applying school only:
Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade Total / Grade / # of Males / # of Females / Grade TotalPreK / 0 / 0 / 0 / 6 / 112 / 109 / 221
K / 0 / 0 / 0 / 7 / 114 / 116 / 230
1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 8 / 122 / 129 / 251
2 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 9 / 0 / 0 / 0
3 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 10 / 0 / 0 / 0
4 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 11 / 0 / 0 / 0
5 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 12 / 0 / 0 / 0
TOTAL STUDENTS IN THE APPLYING SCHOOL / 702
6. Racial/ethnic composition of the school: / 0 / % American Indian or Alaska Native
3 / % Asian
8 / % Black or African American
3 / % Hispanic or Latino
0 / % Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
84 / % White
2 / % Two or more races
100 / % Total
Only the seven standard categories should be used in reporting the racial/ethnic composition of your school. The final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic data to the U.S. Department of Education published in the October 19, 2007 Federal Register provides definitions for each of the seven categories.
7. Student turnover, or mobility rate, during the past year: 5%
This rate is calculated using the grid below. The answer to (6) is the mobility rate.
(1) / Number of students who transferred to the school after October 1 until theend of the year. / 25
(2) / Number of students who transferred from the school after October 1 until the end of the year. / 12
(3) / Total of all transferred students [sum of rows (1) and (2)]. / 37
(4) / Total number of students in the school as of October 1. / 729
(5) / Total transferred students in row (3)
divided by total students in row (4). / 0.051
(6) / Amount in row (5) multiplied by 100. / 5.075
8. Limited English proficient students in the school: 0%
Total number limited English proficient 1
Number of languages represented: 1
Specify languages:
Icelandic
9. Students eligible for free/reduced-priced meals: 7%
Total number students who qualify: 52
If this method does not produce an accurate estimate of the percentage of students from low-income families, or the school does not participate in the free and reduced-price school meals program, specify a more accurate estimate, tell why the school chose it, and explain how it arrived at this estimate.
10. Students receiving special education services: 4%
Total Number of Students Served: 29
Indicate below the number of students with disabilities according to conditions designated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Do not add additional categories.
2 / Autism / 0 / Orthopedic Impairment0 / Deafness / 9 / Other Health Impaired
0 / Deaf-Blindness / 9 / Specific Learning Disability
2 / Emotional Disturbance / 7 / Speech or Language Impairment
0 / Hearing Impairment / 0 / Traumatic Brain Injury
1 / Mental Retardation / 0 / Visual Impairment Including Blindness
0 / Multiple Disabilities / 0 / Developmentally Delayed
11. Indicate number of full-time and part-time staff members in each of the categories below:
Number of StaffFull-Time / Part-Time
Administrator(s) / 2 / 0
Classroom teachers / 40 / 0
Special resource teachers/specialists / 5 / 1
Paraprofessionals / 5 / 0
Support staff / 14 / 0
Total number / 66 / 1
12. Average school student-classroom teacher ratio, that is, the number of students in the school divided by the Full Time Equivalent of classroom teachers, e.g., 22:1 17 :1
13. Show the attendance patterns of teachers and students as a percentage. Only middle and high schools need to supply dropout rates. Briefly explain in the Notes section any attendance rates under 95%, teacher turnover rates over 12%, or student dropout rates over 5%.
2008-2009 / 2007-2008 / 2006-2007 / 2005-2006 / 2004-2005Daily student attendance / 96% / 96% / 97% / 96% / 96%
Daily teacher attendance / 96% / 97% / 97% / 98% / 98%
Teacher turnover rate / 10% / 10% / 12% / 15% / 7%
Student dropout rate / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0% / 0%
Please provide all explanations below.
At the end of the 2005/2006 school year, one teacher transferred in county, two were promoted to administrative positions, two took teaching positions in another state, one received a year of parenting leave, and one left the teaching profession.
14. For schools ending in grade 12 (high schools).
Show what the students who graduated in Spring 2009 are doing as of the Fall 2009.
Graduating class size / 0Enrolled in a 4-year college or university / 0 / %
Enrolled in a community college / 0 / %
Enrolled in vocational training / 0 / %
Found employment / 0 / %
Military service / 0 / %
Other (travel, staying home, etc.) / 0 / %
Unknown / 0 / %
Total / %
PART III - SUMMARY
Northern Middle School is a learning community located in rural Calvert County, Maryland, situated between the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River, serving the residential, farming, and small business communities of Northern Calvert County. As part of the Calvert County Public School System, we are proud to consistently rank among the top performing school systems in the state of Maryland.
Our mission statement, Learning First, is the foundation of success at Northern Middle School. A simplefocus on the development, implementation, and maintenance of a school community that is centered on learning is our primary goal.Our learning culture is supported by our norms, infrastructure, and daily priorities and decisions. We believe in the operational structure of teaming, and havecreated Instructional Learning Pods to facilitate the instruction of the whole child.The Learning Pods ensure that learners are monitored for success and every teacher is connected to targeted learners, of varying levels, who may need enhanced support.These targeted learners include both proficient and struggling learners, as our goal is to move everylearner forward.Instructional Learning Pods also promote collegial sharing and collaboration. Each Learning Pod is responsible for identifying best instructional practices through observation of colleagues and best practices are shared with the faculty as a whole via staff meetings and other professional development opportunities. In this way,high qualityinstruction is continually being observed, rewarded, and promoted throughout our school.
The School Learning Improvement Team (SLIT) supports our six core initiatives at Northern Middle School:Community, Communication, Instruction, Math, Reading, and Climate. SLIT is divided into instructional and community leadership teams that drive these six core focus areas. Each decision at our school is continually held up against the question: How does this impact learning and/or the learner?Through this process, we have been able to sharpen our focus towards success for all learners, in all populations that we serve.
Northern Middle School offers a continuum of challenging courses. Recognizing that alllearners do not learn at the same pace or to the same level, we have developed a master schedule that allowslearners to receive instruction across a wide variety of settings and offerings. A large number of our learners take high school-level math and foreign language classes, with many leaving 8th grade having already earned high school credits in these areas. Intervention classes, advanced classes and co-taught classes with flexible groupings allow us to focus on meeting the needs of individual learners.
Aside from our core content learning focus, our learners are given opporunities to develop their individual potential through participation in the arts, technology, and physical fitness classes. Coupled with our after school activities,learners choose from a wide array of offerings including: jazz band, symphonic band, music, theater, MESA, robotics, Student Government, treble choir, Math Counts, Green Club, and After School Learning Clubs. Northern Middle School also has a long history of successful sports teams, boasting many county championships in soccer, volleyball, track, girls' and boys' basketball, softball, and baseball. We recognize the importance of diversified experiential learning in promoting character development, citizenship, and the whole child.
All professional and support staff at Northern Middle School are genuinely committed to supporting the various needs of our middle school learners. As constant and true role models for our learners, we exemplify the school pledge: "As a NMS learner, I promise to uphold the Bobcat Roar: Respect, Outstanding Achievement, and Responsibility." As you walk through our building, it is obvious that learning is taking place and that our staff loves kids. As a staff, we also seek to care for one another and for all of those in our learning community. In this way,learners observe the staff working together as a community striving to represent best practices daily.