August 5, 2014 Dear Parents and Community Members: We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER) which provides key information on the 2013-2014 educational progress for the Big Rapids Middle School. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school s report contains information about student assessment, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and teacher quality. If you have any questions about the AER, please contact the principal, Lenore Weaver, for assistance. The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting our web site at http://www.brps.k12.mi.us or you may review a copy at the office at the Middle School. The state has identified some schools with the status of Reward, Focus or Priority. A Reward school is one that is outperforming other schools in achievement, growth, or is performing better than other schools with a similar student population. A Focus school is one that has a large achievement gap in 30% of its student achievement scores. A Priority school is one whose achievement and growth is in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state. Our school has not been given one of these labels. For 2013-2014, the Big Rapids Middle School made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in English language arts and mathematics. While we are pleased to have reached this important goal, we are continuously working to improve. Here are just a few things that we do to make Big Rapids Middle School the best middle school in the area: We offer advanced placement in classes; 5 th, 6 th, and 7 th graders have the ability to enter math classes in the advanced grades, 8 th grade students have the ability to enter high school with the Algebra I and Geometry and Algebra II requirement completed. High school Spanish I is offered to 8 th graders. Successful completion of this class fulfills one full credit of the state s foreign language requirement on the high school diploma. We offer a comprehensive selection of enrichments including Technology, Band, Jazz Band, Physical Education, Art and Choir. Ferris State University students work as math tutors, social work mentors, homework helpers and recess aids. Parents volunteer throughout our school including the media center, the classrooms and the playground. We have a very active PTO and they welcome all parents that want to become more involved.
We appreciate the continued support of parents, staff and our community in this effort. State law requires that we also report additional information. Big Rapids Public Schools houses one Middle School, grades 5 8. All students in the district are automatically assigned to the Middle School for these grades. Big Rapids Middle School has continually improved over the last three years in regards to our school improvement goals. Our School Improvement Plan contains four groups working to address three specific goals. The goals address academic achievement in the areas of math, reading and writing. In 2011-2012 we adopted an all school writing initiative to support our school goal of writing with sufficient detail. This initiative continues in to the 2014-2015 school year with more stringent expectations and consistent assessments. Our goal is to improve all students writing skills across all curriculum areas. Below is an outline of our 3-5 year plan for improving student writing: 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 First year of Weekly Writing Fun; No assessment data was collected. Assessments done 3x/year, with 3 different prompts each time, and different prompts for each grade level. Rubrics were provided by writing committee. Papers were graded on a rotating basis to allow teachers a wider variety of experience grading all school writing and to eliminate possible pre-judgment by teachers grading same student s writing all year long. WWF Assessments done 3x/year. Revised rubric. Prompts will have more visual guidance for prewriting. Schedule of what class to give assessment in TBD; Assessments done with Seminar classes. School saw a significant improvement in writing scores on state MEAP tests for 7 th grade. WWF Assessments will be done 3x/year. Continue to use rubric. ELA to give first assessment. Major writing projects to be completed in SC & SS & ELA. Staff to be trained and provided supporting documents. The major writing projects will become more developed, with better rubrics and additional professional development to all staff. Professional development will focus on higher level writing skills
In 2012-2013 we adopted an all school math fact program to support our math goal of improved readiness for algebra. Our goal is to strengthen memorization of basic multiplication facts and reducing fractions for all students and subsequently improve math skills for all students. Beginning in the fall of 2014 reducing fractions will be added to basic skills that we assess and monitor. Below is a chart of data from our math fact program: 5 th Grade 6th Grade 2012-13 Data 2013-14 Data 2012-13 Data 2013-14 Data Start of Year Avg Start of Year Avg Start of Year Avg Start of Year Avg 62.60% mastery 67.7% mastery 64.94% mastery 75% mastery End of Year Avg End of Year Avg End of Year Avg End of Year Avg 89% mastery 94.25% mastery 87.02% mastery 88.9% mastery 7 th Grade 8th Grade 2012-13 Data 2013-14 Data 2012-13 Data 2013-14 Data Start of Year Avg Start of Year Avg Start of Year Avg Start of Year Avg 74.82% mastery 80.48% mastery 70.66% mastery 85.9% mastery End of Year Avg End of Year Avg End of Year Avg End of Year Avg 91.04% mastery 93.43% mastery 93.46% mastery 95.29% mastery We are also working to improve our parental involvement. Goal groups meet regularly to analyze data and update strategies. We welcome parents that are interested in being involved in these areas. There are no specialized schools for middle school students in the Big Rapids Public School district. Copies of the core curriculum can be obtained at our Central Office which is located at 21034 15 Mile Rd, Big Rapids or by calling 231-796-2627.
BRMS students continue to perform above average in all areas of the MEAP. Below are our scores for the 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school year. 2011-2102 5 TH 65 59 39 27 6 TH 68 66 26 25 7 TH 51 54 36 27 8 TH 53 50 23 19 2012-2013 5 TH 73 67 58 43 6 TH 69 65 33 26 7 TH 60 57 36 29 8 TH 61 57 28 25 2013-2014 5 TH 79.3 73.4 56.7 33.8 6 TH 60.2 67.4 37.4 33.5 7 TH 56.5 56.8 33.8 31 8 TH 76.2 72.5 27.3 29.2 BRMS held student led conferences in the fall of 2013 with continued success. Parent participation was high (289 out of 435, 67%) and more importantly, student involvement was high. Parents and students sat down together and discussed academic progress and concerns. Teachers were on hand to support and assist in every way possible. We have adopted student led conferences since 2011 and believe it is an effective and valuable tool for connecting students to parents and increased understanding to the importance of one s education. # Parents % Parents 2011-2012 287 65 2012-2013 290 67 2013-2014 289 67
Big Rapids Middle School is proud of our student progress. We recognize that this is a joint effort between parents, students and staff. We will continue to work towards even greater achievement for our students and we look forward to your continued support. Sincerely, Lenore Angeli Weaver Principal