By: Kadey Heidrich
Pasadena ISD Communications
Milstead Middle School has been named a Model Professional Learning Community by Solution Tree, a K-12 professional development and publishing company. Campuses are eligible to receive the designation as a Model PLC once the school implements the PLC process.
Principal Scott Pollack expressed his pride in Milstead for earning the distinction saying, “We are honored to be recognized by Solution Tree as a Model PLC Campus. We have a wonderful group of teachers, staff, students and parents that work hard every day to make sure that our students are successful.”
Through the PLC process, educators are working together to provide better results for the students they serve. All PLC campuses work under the assumption that the key to the improved education of students is continued learning for teachers. The PLC process has three main objectives: focusing on learning, building a collaborative culture and creating a results-driven orientation.
Milstead Middle School started working to become a PLC campus in July of 2013 while attending the PLC Institute. The school has made several changes to implement the PLC process. Through their work with teacher leaders, administrators ensured departmental meetings always answered four questions:
- What is it we want our students to learn?
- How will we know if each student has learned it?
- How will we respond when some students do not learn it?
- How can we extend and enrich the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency?
Additionally, administrators have added intervention and enrichment times to the master schedule ensuring that every student has a 59-minute intervention or enrichment block three times per week. The schedules of paraprofessionals were modified to support teachers and students during the intervention or enrichment blocks. Teachers and paraprofessionals received additional training to help in student interventions, such as the Leveled Literacy Intervention training.
The faculty of Milstead Middle School will continue in their dedication to see students succeed. Their commitment to student success is reflected in the new mission statement of Milstead: “The Mission of Milstead Middle School is to ensure all students rise to high levels of educational achievement by providing a safe, supportive and challenging environment.”