On behalf of the entire middle school staff, it is a pleasure to welcome you to Jericho Middle School. We are a very special “family” of staff, students, parents and community members whose goal is to support students as they develop intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally and ethically. You will often hear me refer to us as an S.E.L. (Social Emotional Literacy) School. What does that mean? It means that we want every student to have a fine mind and a good heart. And everyone here at Jericho Middle School helps each other to reach this goal.

A child changes and develops more rapidly in the five years that we think of as adolescence than at any other time of their lives with the exception of infancy! Towards this end, the middle school has in place certain practices and structures that are intended to meet the singular developmental needs of children at this stage of their lives. It is for this reason that middle school is a special and unique educational setting.

The New York State Education Department, in conjunction with the New York State Middle School Association and professional organizations throughout the state has developed its policy on middle-level education entitled: Essential Elements of Standards-Focused Middle-Level Schools and Programs (Revised 2003), you can read it at:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/rss/mle/mleessentiaelements.htm

Much of what you’ll find discussed in this document is reflected in programs you will find at our school. In fact, in 2003, Jericho Middle School was designated a member school of the Statewide Network of Middle Level Education Support Schools. We are extremely proud of this distinction!

Flexible organizational structures here provide middle school teachers with forums that allow open dialogue and encourage a shared vision that strengthen the concept of team teaching and team planning. This allows teachers opportunities to restructure instructional delivery in their classroom settings. Double blocks of time afford teachers and students an opportunity to see from inception to completion learning activities that required extended periods of time. Additionally, our teaming configurations allowed for increased course offerings as it related to elective exploratories; providing students with the advantage of selecting courses based on individual needs and interest

Developmentally responsive middle schools are faced with many challenges. At Jericho Middle School we continue to explore curriculum that is challenging, integrative and exploratory; encourage a variety of teaching and learning approaches; design assessment and evaluation that promote learning; expand advocacy programs and articulate this shared vision to teach constituency. In addition, the integration of technology is emphasized in order to provide students with a tool that will be naturally integrated across the curricular areas. These efforts allow the middle school to continue to be a strong link between the elementary and high school programs and articulate a clear vision based on research-based best practices.

I look forward to our continued and collaborative efforts.

Please explore our website or call me… my door is always open!