North Hills Middle School staff and students held a
celebration event on May 14 in honor of the school’s redesignation as a
prestigious PA Don Eichhorn Schools: Schools to Watch.Approximately 400 schools out of more than 11,700 middle
schools nationwide hold the designation, and North Hills is one of only 39
schools in Pennsylvania to be recognized in the noted program. The school has
been recognized as a “School to Watch” since 2015.
At the event, building staff and students were presented
with their official Schools to Watch redesignation banner that will be hung in
the middle school to honor their achievement.
The event showcased the middle school students and staff who
made the designation possible by incorporating student music performances and student
leadership members as ushers. Featured speakers included North Hills Middle
School Principal David Lieberman and Assistant Principal Jason Beall as well as
Bruce Vosberg from the Pennsylvania Don Eichhorn Schools: Schools to Watch program.
The Schools to Watch designation notes the middle school as
one of a small number of diverse, high-performing, growth-orientated
middle-grades schools to demonstrate what all middle schools are capable of
achieving. Schools are recognized for three years and must demonstrate progress
and continued improvement on specific goals to be re-designated. In June, the
middle school will be recognized at the National Schools to Watch Conference.
The process to be redesignated as a School to
Watch is lengthy and all-encompassing. School officials draft a written
application to show how they meet the criteria developed by the National Forum
to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. Schools that appear to meet established
criteria are visited by state-level teams of noted educators, which observe
classrooms, interview administrators, teachers, students and parents and
evaluate achievement data, suspension rates, quality of lessons and student
work.
About Schools to Watch
Launched in 1999, Schools to Watch began as a national
program to identify middle-grades schools across the country that were meeting
or exceeding 37 criteria developed by the National Forum. The Forum developed a
website (http://middlegradesforum.org)
that features online tours of schools as well as detailed information about the
selection criteria used in the recognition program. There are now 19 states
across the country, which have trained Schools to Watch State Teams with more
than 380 schools recognized. The National Forum sponsors the Schools to Watch
program along with the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE/formerly
NMSA), the National Association for Elementary School Principals, the National
Association of Secondary School Principals, Learning Forward, ASCD and state
Schools to Watch affiliates.