The 2023-2024 school year is off to a great start! The beginning of the school year always includes information about what to expect during the upcoming school year as well as a strong effort to establish relationships between students and adults. Some highlights of the first few days and how we tried to accomplish these things --

• First Day of School - Thursday, August 10th --- This was only for new students to the building, which included all 6th grade students and students that are new to LMS in 7th and 8th grade. The main focus for this day was to get students familiar with their schedule, the building, the adults, and to make a connection with other students.
• Friday, August 11th - Tuesday, August 16th - We ran a modified schedule so we could include grade level assemblies and an Advisory class period on these days. The topics covered during grade level assemblies included --- information about staff, positives regarding behavior and grades, expectations for respect at LMS (everyone gets treated respectfully), LMS dress code, LMS cell phone policy, counseling availability at LMS, the impact of attendance on success, using study halls advantageously, getting involved at LMS through athletics and clubs, viewing athletics, honesty, anti-bullying, and requirements for grade level reward field trips.
• During Advisory on those days, all staff reviewed the BIST (Behavior Intervention Support Team) model. Students also had a chance to go through role-playing examples with behavior expectations. We also stressed the importance of communication with a lesson on, "How to Email Teachers".

During the 2023-2024 school year, Lansing Middle School looks to expand on successes and address past challenges.

1. Guaranteed Viable Curriculum (GVC) –

Under the direction of Miles Azzeh, Director of Teaching and Learning, we continued to prioritize the development and enhancement of our curriculum last year to ensure it remained aligned with current educational standards and best practices. Our core teachers dedicated a great deal of time putting their GVC together to reflect current practices and create a roadmap for future professional practice. As a result, a GVC was completed for the core areas and is available on the USD 469 website --

https://www.usd469.net/vnews/display.v/SEC/GVC%20%28Guaranteed%20%26%20Viable%20Curriculum%29

A final step in the completion of the GVC is that our exploratory teachers will complete their GVCs this school year.

2. Academic Achievement from 2022-2023 –

I am including the academic accomplishments of our students and staff from last year as it is an excellent starting point.

• Statistically significant growth (+4% and +5%) in the advanced category for aReading at 6th and 7th grade.
• 8th grade aReading score of 79%.
• Decrease at all grade levels from fall to spring in the “high risk” category for aReading.
• 6th grade aMath score of 79% with statistically significant growth (+4%) overall.
• Statistically significant growth (+5%) in the advanced category for aMath at 7th grade.
• Statistically significant growth (+7%) in the overall score for aMath at 7th grade.
• Statistically significant decline (-5%) in the “high risk” category for aMath at 8th grade.
• Decrease at all grade levels from fall to spring in the “high risk” category for aMath.
• Increases in overall Fastbridge scores for aMath and aReading in four out of six areas/grade levels; no decreases in overall scores from fall to spring.
• All tested areas at all grade levels were above the state average for the Kansas State Assessment (6th, 7th, 8th grade – ELA; 6th, 7th, 8th grade – Math; 8th grade science).
• All cohort groups except one*, for both ELA and Math increased their difference in median score compared to the state average. Example – 2022 – 5th Grade ELA was 5 points above the state average; 2023 – 6th Grade ELA was 8 points above the state average. This is a really good indicator to look at because the test changes from year-to-year and the cut scores also change. * The only exception to this was 8th grade math, which had a slight decrease from 7th to 8th grade in this area.

• During the 3rd quarter, the 6th grade had zero students with multiple failing grades. This is the first time this has happened in the ten years we have kept data. Quite an accomplishment!
• Honor Roll Recipients for 2nd Semester – Lion Honor Roll (4.0 GPA/All A’s) --- 25% of 6th grade students, 23% of 7th grade students, and 17% of 8th grade students. Overall honor roll recipients (3.0 GPA or higher) --- 77% of 6th grade students, 71% of 7th grade students, and 64% of 8th grade students.

3. Student Attendance and Student Behavior -

• Student attendance has declined in the past several years since the start of COVID. This is not unique to Lansing Middle School. However, it is an area we are greatly concerned about because of the direct correlation between attendance and academic success. We are hoping that increased parental support will be a piece in helping us to alleviate this problem.
• Our biggest overall need over the past two school years has been in the area of behavior. A lot of this has come from a small portion of our students exhibiting more chronic and large-scale behavior. Behavior has shown up in our building climate survey as one of the most concerning areas from staff.
• Our plans for addressing attendance and behavior this school year included the following measures - 1) we added a counselor position this school year and we are pleased that Becky Lowery, former LMS 7th grade teacher was able to move into this role. This will help us to be able to address both attendance and behavior through increased BSEL (behavior-social/emotional) support for students; 2) we added a behavior intervention aide position. We are excited to welcome Alexis Shepherd into this role. She will focus on reflection and restorative practices for students with discipline infractions. Our goal is to see less repeated behaviors as a result; 3) we have reorganized other staffing roles to support our behavior classroom and our SBS (social-behvioral skills) room, which also acts as a recovery room; 4) all LMS staff received training from Marty Huitt, Director of BIST before the school year. This will help with consistency in our building and has given staff a renewed spirit with BIST; 5) a focus on re-entry after behavior incidents, specifically for those warranting out-of-school suspension (OSS). This will allow planning to take place as well as an accountability discussion. Again, the goal is to lessen the likelihood of behavior reoccurrences.

To end, I would like to reiterate my excitement for the upcoming school year. It is truly a unique opportunity with education to have a new start each year. I look forward to working with you and your child!

1. I can be OK even when others are not OK
   
2. I can make good choices even if I am mad
   
3. I can do something even though I don’t want to
   

Through this model, staff try to ensure that students are offered grace and accountability, which simply means it’s OK to make mistakes but there is a need to take responsibility for choices.

Terms you might hear with BIST include

• Safe Seat and Buddy Room – these are alternate locations intended to provide another opportunity for student to change behavior
• Processing – this entails talking through what happened with the teacher or adult

As I mentioned previously, all LMS staff received professional development in BIST before school started. Almost all LMS staff had been trained at some point but this was a great refresher for our staff. Furthermore, BIST is now a K-5 initiative as well, so the training was given to all K-8 personnel.

This link gives more information about BIST -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SAViHDcc3xEIebImYI30bLSlNQogPOnC/view?usp=sharing

The following article is from the USD469 website on the BIST training in August -

https://www.usd469.net/vnews/display.v/ART/64d545b63a3bf?in_archive=1