Westview Middle receives Schools to Watch designation
Feb. 22—Westview Middle Principal Mark Spencer saw new sixth graders go through sessions on how to be successful during a visit to a Colorado Springs school, then adapted it so Westview could use it in the fall with its own sixth graders.
Both Longmont's Westview and the Colorado Springs school are part of a network of Colorado "Schools to Watch" that share best practices for successful middle schools.
"There's an opportunity to share and collaborate and learn from each other," Spencer said. "It's a pretty powerful network."
Westview recently was re-designated as a Colorado Trailblazer School to Watch by the Colorado Association of Middle Level Education. Schools are recognized for a three-year period and, at the end of three years, must repeat the process to be re-designated. With this year's designation, Westview has been re-designated twice.
Westview also is one of about 100 schools that will be recognized at the National Schools to Watch Conference in June in Washington, D.C.
Selection is based on a written application. A Colorado-based team also conducts site visits to affirm that selected schools have met the requirements. Teams observe classrooms; interview administrators, teachers and parents; and review achievement data, suspension rates, instructional quality and student work.
"It's an affirmation of the good things that are going on at our school," said Spencer, who has been part of the evaluation team for other schools. "It's more than just a rubber stamp."
He said Westview's academic achievement outpaces that of many schools with similar student demographics, while the school receives the most open enrollment applications of the district's neighborhood middle schools.
A point of pride for the school is a professional learning community for teachers. Teachers in core subjects also stay with the same group of students all three years of middle school.
"It becomes their community," said math teacher Ellie Decker, who has taught at the school since it opened in 1991 and oversees the student council. "We're here for the kids. You want to make it the best experience possible."
Another feature of the school, which offers a STEM focus, is a wide array of elective classes and afterschool clubs and sports.
Options include competitive robotics, music classes that include guitar and composition, art, chess, improv, and the Plains to the Park research program. In Plains to the Park, students work with Rocky Mountain National Park scientists and Button Rock Preserve rangers to collect data, mainly through wildlife cameras.
"There are other things beyond the core learning that keep kids excited about coming to school," Spencer said.
Computer science and robotics teacher Danny Hernandez said there was only a small afterschool robotics club when he started. Since then, Westview has added both introduction and competitive robotics classes. He also helped start robotics programs at the feeder elementary schools so students are better prepared. And, more recently, high school students started coming back to Westview as robotics mentors.
"It's grown into a system of students teaching students," he said.
Robotics, he added, is one avenue to connect students to school.
"For some of these students, this is their sport, this is their love," he said. "Depending on the kid, this can be their home or their landing spot."
