Oceanside Middle School earns state, national recognition

Oceanside Middle School has been recognized nationally and on the state level as an Essential Elements School to Watch, one of only 25 schools in the state to be honored and one of 300 across the country.

According to Dr. Allison Glickman-Rogers, the middle school principal, the recognition is the result of the school district’s dedication to middle-school learning since the school was created in 1982.

“It’s really a model middle school,” said Oceanside Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown. “Whatever the [students] need, the middle school is here to give it to them.”

The Schools to Watch program recognizes schools across the country that offer top-notch middle-level education. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, a committee comprising more than 60 educators, researchers and officers of national associations and foundations, launched the program 11 years ago.

The committee evaluates schools based on four criteria: academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, organizational structure and social equity.

According to Glickman-Rogers, the intensive self-study the school undergoes facilitated the identification of its strengths, as well as areas that could be improved. “One of the strengths we discovered was our teaming and looping model, which allows students to have the same core academic teachers for two years,” she said. “It allows them to develop meaningful relationships with their teachers.”

The school’s group guidance program, the integration of technology in the classroom, and the range of extracurricular activities it offers are also strengths, Glickman-Rogers said.

One area that is being improved, she added, is the students’ schedule. “We are making enhancements for the 2012-13 school year which allow us to include a block schedule to implement the Common Core standards and maximize time,” Glickman-Rogers said. “Teachers will have complete autonomy over how they use their time to best provide students with instruction.”

The middle school submitted an application to Schools to Watch last June and has been involved in the program’s process ever since. Glickman-Rogers received a letter on Feb. 15 announcing the recognition of the middle school from Marybeth Casey of the New York State Department of Education.

“You have developed a model educational program in New York State that is consistent with the Regents Policy Statement on Middle Level Education, the Essential Elements of a Standard Focused Middle Level School and the National Forum’s Schools to Watch criteria,” Casey wrote. “Through this rigorous application process and your successful endeavors, Oceanside Middle School will be recognized as both a State and National School to Watch.”

The middle school will be formally recognized at the National Schools to Watch Conference in Washington, D.C., June 21-23.

Robert Fenter, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and the previous OMS principal, praised the middle school. “I am incredibly excited for the middle school and proud of their accomplishments in being a model for middle-level education not only in New York but nationwide,” Fenter said. “I think credit goes to the wonderful teachers and staff there, as well as Dr. Glickman. We’re incredibly proud.”