The Only Constant is Change

Much like a middle school student, OMS has been undergoing some significant changes in the last year.

We had numerous retirements last year which led to us having 18 people in our building in new positions.  In fact, we have more new people across the district than we ever have had before.

With large change comes opportunities to overcome obstacles.  With numerous retirements we needed to consider the amount of institutional knowledge that left our building as well.  We also needed to pull together as a team and redefine our mission and the direction of our school.

The efforts of our teachers, new and veteran, have been nothing short of remarkable.  They have all put in extra time and have demonstrated extremely high levels of commitment to what we believe at OMS.

Our next step will continue to challenge us.  We are re-aligning our school so that grade levels will be more physically aligned.  This means that most teachers will be moving classrooms this summer and the building will look much different in the fall.

When OMS was built in 1979 (for the second time following a fire), the ideas of "pods" or "units" were thought of as a way to keep students separated to ensure that the school followed the "middle school philosophy."  Placement of teachers and students was the only way to force that kind of collaboration.

Over the years pros and cons have emerged from our physical set up at OMS.

Pros:

• Interdisciplinary teams helped adolescents develop academically, socially, and emotionally.
• Students had a home base.

Cons:

• The grades were separated.  Teachers only knew half of the students.
• That separation led to differences in teaching i.e. curriculum, lessons, pacing, assessments, outcomes. 
• We were not able to "ensure" that each student was receiving the same great education.

Then, about 6 years ago, our district took on the commitment of learning about and implementing Professional Learning Communities (PLC's).  This idea asks teachers to teach utilizing the same Essential Learning Outcomes, the same Summative and Formative Assessments, and teach at the same pace.  It also asks teachers to collaborate using student data as the driving force behind development of best practice.

This type of philosophy requires that teachers meet frequently to discuss student achievement and make decisions that improve practice in the classroom thus improving learning.  If your PLC partner is not near your classroom, a journey to the other end of the school is required.  There is a path worn in the carpeting in the LMC where many teachers are walking back and forth to collaborate with their teaching partner. :)

The commitment to PLC's is our greatest feature in this district.  It ensures that all students are receiving the same great education no matter what teacher or unit they are in.

Our success on this PLC journey has been undeniable.  We have progressed quickly and have made major impacts on student achievement. The next step is for us to combine the ideas of the middle school philosophy (interdisciplinary teams) with the idea of Professional Learning Communities.

There will be more information on this process and what it means for students coming.  In the meantime, your teachers will continue to work hard in preparation for moving classrooms to further ensure the success of each student at OMS.

Mr. K