West Side Middle School (Waterbury)
West Side Middle School is the place to visit in the fall. Each school year begins with a dynamic Community Day. The entire school community plays an active role in this celebration. Beginning with the Principal’s welcoming address and including a guitar concert, book share, art work display, pumpkin painting, zumba and many more activities, the day is filled to overflowing with the enthusiasm, energy, caring and giving that typifies this middle school.
The activity highlighted above is one example of West Side Middle School efforts to embrace school improvement and enhance student achievement. Three years ago, West Side became a CommPACT School. CommPACT is a school reform model that originated at the University of Connecticut’s Institute for Urban School Improvement. CommPACT takes schools as they are and then transforms them with a culture of collaboration by using research-based instructional strategies and leadership provided by UConn’s Neag School of Education. CommPACT symbolizes a shared commitment by all community members and Community Day is a visible symbol of this effort.
The pathway to improvement is West Side’s organizational structure. Following a yearly analysis and determination of student/school needs Cadres or small work groups are formed. All staff members participate in a Cadre of their choice and there are presently eight Cadres. Each Cadre has developed a plan of action that is a year-long or multiple year plan. The following examples provide a snapshot of the work of two of the Cadres.
The Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support or PBIS Cadre has consistently registered significant gains. PBIS is a decision-making framework that guides selection, integration and implementation of the best evidence-based academic and behavioral practices for improving important academic and behavior outcomes for students. It emphasizes data for decision making and measurable outcomes supported by data. West Side’s School Improvement Plan states that during a three year period, the number of suspensions would decrease 5% per year or a total of 15%. The school surpassed this goal by decreasing suspensions 16.9% in one school year due to the extensive work of this cadre.
The Schoolwide Enrichment Model for Reading is an enrichment based approach to teaching reading that gives students access and exposure to new reading material on a daily basis. The focus is on creative and critical thinking, identifying students’ interests and strengths and student-based inquiry, analysis and synthesis (Reis, 2008). In a two-year period of implementation of SEM-R, the reading achievement of West Side students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades showed an 11% gain.
This is just a sampling of West Side’s accomplishments and a reflection of its strong commitment to students and the entire school community. As West Side continues its journey, Dr. Suess’ words of encouragement for ALL kids may foretell of things to come, “And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)” (Dr. Seuss, 1990).
–Peg Beecher, CommPACT Site Facilitator
February 2012