Woodland Middle School honored with prestigious Inviting School Award

Every inch of bulletin board space in Woodland Middle School’s hallways and classrooms is covered with drawings, words of encouragement and names of students whose successes are highlighted each week and month.

Among the postings is a congratulatory banner naming Woodland Middle School a recipient of the 2016 Inviting School Award.

The International Alliance for Invitational Education honored Woodland with the award at its 34th annual 2016 World Conference in Lexington, Ky., in November. According to the organization’s website, the award is given to schools, districts and universities that demonstrate an ongoing commitment to best serving students, staff members and communities. Woodland Middle School is one of 33 schools worldwide to receive the award. This year 17 schools and colleges won in China, and the rest of the recipients were from the United States.

“We are so proud of this accomplishment,” Principal James Lethbridge said. “But it’s certainly a team effort.

The entire school, including staff, faculty, students and parents, has been coming together for the past couple of years to make our school as inviting and progressive as it can be.”

Superintendent Leon Campo said that the award, aside from being one of the most prestigious in education, serves as an encouragement for the students and staff to continue striving for success, unity and kindness. 

Campo said that the positive energy of the students makes the school inviting. “Our children are incredibly talented in different areas ranging from the arts, music, different subjects and sports,” he continued. “It’s rewarding to see them grow.”

Campo said that the IAIE looks for different qualities ranging from lesson plans to intellectual growth in students, how the school deals with bullying and other unacceptable behavior, resources it provides students who deal with addiction and stress, school programs that help students overcome mental and physical challenges, and curriculum that challenges students with enhanced abilities through advanced placement and athletic programs. In addition, Campo said, the middle school’s charity efforts throughout the year were also considered, including the annual Walking for Water event in which students raise funds for the hungry and thirsty across Long Island, and the holiday favorite candy bar sale, in which funds raised by students purchase toys for the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island through the Yorker Club. This year students raised more than $1,800.

“There’s just so much more to it,” Campo said. “The staff comes together as part of the Planning Management Team and cracks open the books to see what step they take next when it comes to providing a program for the children.”

Although the school began focusing on social and emotional work eight years ago with the help of Joan Fretz, IAIE’s executive director, Lethbridge said the school seriously undertook the task of becoming an inviting school two years ago. Its staff began overhauling programs during the 2016-17 school year when the Planning Management Team started to use new tools from the Inviting Education book to create an enriched program.

“Honestly, throughout this whole process, the teachers are the ones who really took ownership of this,” he said with a laugh. “They volunteer their time and efforts and come up with so many ideas, many of which they run with from start to finish. I mean, this team has grown from last year to this year, and the numbers keep going up.”

Lethbridge said that the journey has created a more welcoming school. Marcee Rubenstein, the Board of Education president, said this, in turn, creates a more comfortable environment for students and staff.

“As we all know,” she said, “middle school is a very awkward time for children. They’re going through physical changes and there’s a lot of emotional development. So the progress the school is making means a lot to these students, because the staff create a welcoming and comfortable space where kids feel safe to be who they are.”

At the Board of Education’s November meeting, more than 15 staff members wore bright red Woodland Middle School T-shirts and showcased the school’s progress through a video presentation for dozens of parents in attendance.

“The difference in the students is very apparent,” said science teacher Nanda Sundri. “The children are growing, and the educators are growing. We’re all a part of this big, warm community, and we’ve built acceptance and tolerance.”

And despite the school’s honor, Lethbridge said the journey is not over yet. “It’s just the beginning,” he said.