What does our mission statement mean?  The JMS TV crew has been asking students and staff members to explain what it means.  I wanted to support their efforts by sharing my explanation of this statement to our school community.

 The mission statement is:

 Jefferson Middle School uses effective instructional strategies and an interactive, integrated curriculum so that all students meet or exceed course content expectations.  We build partnerships with families and the community, and provide a network of support services that promote a safe, responsible, and respectful environment.

 Mission statements define an organizations purpose for existence.

 I broke our mission statement into four parts to explain what the JMS mission means to me. Here it goes:

 Ø       Jefferson Middle School uses effective instructional strategies

 o        This portion of the statement identifies that our teachers use best practices or instructional strategies that that are researched based that yield high levels of successful results

 Ø       And an interactive, integrated curriculum

 o        The interactive adjective identifies that students and teachers are engaged in the learning process

o        The integrated curriculum means that through the learning process connections are made between subject areas to develop a rich and deep knowledge base

 Ø       So that all students meet or exceed course content expectations. 

 o        I hope all of you have heard and know what GLCEs and HSCEs are.  Grade Level Content Expectations and High School Content Expectations are learning objectives or benchmarks

o        These are the goals that you are trying to reach as learners. These goals identify the information students must learn. Each of these objectives includes skills that must also be mastered

 Ø       We build partnerships with families and the community, and provide a network of support services that promote a safe, responsible, and respectful environment.

 o        This statement identifies our commitment to working with all stakeholders or groups of people that have a vested interest in the education and development of our students

o        The idea of, ”It takes a village to raise a child” reigns supreme in our mission.  Together, we must work together to help develop all of students of JMS into knowledgeable, respectful and responsible adults that are ready for a diverse and demanding society 

 I hope this helps you to understand what the JMS mission statement means to me.  I need your help to ensure that this message is not only communicated through this statement but through our actions as well!