Middle school Vision: Mission Driven Structures

Mission-Driven structures are the second avenue for implementation of our middle school vision. Our mission is to develop the whole child by challenging the mind and nourishing the spirit in a diverse community guided by Judeo-Christian values.


The structures we have put in place are directly guided by that mission. The curriculum we teach, the schedule in which we teach it, the Developmental Designs system we use, and our emphasis on spiritual development are four core representations of mission-driven structures in the middle school.

The middle school curriculum is a manifestation of thoughtful deliberation by faculty and administration which originates with our Desired Results of Student Learning. Through this review not only have we added courses in the arts in the last few years, but we have implemented technology such as the TI-84 calculator (and soon the iPad) to deliver content in a new and stimulating way.

The schedule is paramount to when and how we can teach. It is the way we manage our most important resource: time. This year, we have allotted more time to math and writing instruction in the morning, while providing a semi-rotational afternoon schedule. These changes are part of best practices for middle school aged children.

Development Designs is based on a whole child approach from advisory to instruction to whole school routines. Nourishing a sense of respect and empathy through our social contract, students understand the value of each and every member of our middle school community.

Finally, our special emphasis on spiritual development is framed in both our Theology classes and chapel services. The Episcopal rites and traditions provide guidelines for a student’s self exploration into their own beliefs.

Whether it is through finding a song that represents a student’s feelings toward God, internalizing the social contract, moving from class to class, or achieving academic results, the middle school structures help our students become a part of the middle school vision.

Middle School Vision: Student Leadership

Over the next few posts I plan to outline the avenues of implementation for the Middle School Vision. The first of those avenues is student leadership.


The goal of student leadership is to develop students who feel a genuine sense of competency, are vested with significant responsibility, work hard to cultivate relationships, and gain more autonomy throughout their middle school experience.

The middle school provides both programmatic and activity –based opportunities for student leadership. On a program level, we have added a leadership component to the Desired Results of Student Learning or DRSLs. Developmental Designs is based on a philosophy that seeks to nurture competency, autonomy, relationships, and fun in a middle school community. Our Athletics program works to create a sense of responsibility to team and school, while our Venture Out program makes explicit the positive characteristics of a team and a leader.

We also offer numerous extracurricular activities which work to develop leadership through a focus on service to others and scholarship. For example, our Chapel Buddy and Family projects both have students serving students. Our service learning program is based on themes which focus on our community in Greensboro. Student council, Acolytes, and 8th grade sermons are other examples of activities which serve to cultivate leaders at Canterbury.

Canterbury students go on to become leaders in their respective high schools. Over the last five years, Canterbury alumni have been valedictorians/salutatorians (there have been 5), student body presidents (3), citizenship award winners (18), and the list goes on. Leadership is embedded in Canterbury students and it shows when they leave.

Middle School Vision & Implementation



Over the last year, the Middle School faculty and staff worked on a vision for the middle school. This vision guides our work to create academic excellence inside and outside of Armfield’s walls. Our vision follows,


Canterbury Middle School develops:

The Whole Child: Recognizes that a complete education requires us to develop the “whole child” in mind, body, and spirit, and places academics as the cornerstone of our whole child approach.

Relationships: Fosters strong, trusting and respectful relationships among faculty, administration, students, and parents.

Best Practices: Ensures that decisions are guided by best practices for middle schools and our students’ best interests.

Well-Being: Ensures students’ social and emotional well-being.

High Expectations: Sets high expectations for every member of our community.

21st Century Skills: Fosters 21st century skills through an emphasis on scholarship, leadership, and service.

We are able to implement this vision through four primary avenues: student leadership, mission-driven structures, student-focused support, and communication.

Over the next few posts, I will outline these implementation avenues in more detail, which will provide a road map for you as your family navigates through the middle school years at Canterbury.

To Serve: Service Learning in the Middle School

In an e-letter from September, I discussed three opportunities for leadership and service stressed in the middle school. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce a fourth: our service learning program.


First, Karen Niegelsky agreed to take on the role of Service Learning Coordinator for the middle school. She will work with the advisory teams to support and shape creative service activities, integrate service learning into the curriculum, develop and/or maintain relationships with outside non-profit entities, publicize the various activities within school as well as any family opportunities that may arise, and manage the many possible opportunities to create meaningful relationships.

Second, we have implemented the objectives of the service learning committee to expand students’ world views, foster a “culture of service”, establish long-term partnerships in the community, and create and implement an intentional process for preparation before and reflection after service projects of all types .

Third, in pursuit of our objectives, we have established a theme for each grade level. The 6th Grade, Think Globally, Act Locally, stresses local projects with a global emphasis. The 7th Grade, Think Globally, Act Globally, focuses on a MDG-based slate of projects. The 8th Grade, Think Globally, Act Personally, features an emphasis on leadership.

Fourth, in our 7th and 8th grades we have carved out a block of time within the week to focus on leadership and service with our closely linked Venture Out programs. During this time students will be focused on the preparation, work, and reflection cycle that is crucial to meaningful service and leadership training.

In the middle school we continue to live out our motto: To Learn, To Love, To Serve: To Live.

Test: Activity Form

I am trying to utilize Google as much as possible in my new role. One of the things I think could work well is Google Forms to create an activity form for teachers and staff to use when proposing an activity for their students.

I am still playing around with how they might access it, since there is no Intranet. We do have Quia pages for each middle school teacher and perhaps this blog could be linked to each, so as to facilitate the use of the form.

We'll see. Stay tuned.

Classroom Expectations

I came across this blog post by Karl Fisch regarding classroom expectations. I think it is a nice introduction to a conversation amongst educators about how we might approach the students when we set guidelines for our classes. He elaborates a glass-half-empty vs. glass-half-full argument.

http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2010/06/transparent-algebra-course-expectations.html