When they complete fifth grade, students depart from one of our nine elementary schools as preteens. Four years later, when they enter high school, these freshmen are on their way to becoming young adults. What happens in-between?
At Valley Middle School, as at our other two middle schools, adolescents are not "caught in the middle," but rather "well-taught in the middle." They prepare for high school and post-secondary education.
Current seventh-graders comprise the first Carlsbad Unified class of students that will be required to complete all "A-G" high school graduation requirements as part of the District's College and Career Readiness protocol. The "A-G" refers to a set of classes required for eligibility to attend California State and University of California colleges.
Noting that the skill sets needed for success in college are similar to those needed in a job, Valley Principal C?sar Morales has created preparatory programs to help students achieve their goals. He tells the kids, "Every person has a role in society, from delivering mail to making scientific discoveries. You need to position yourself for the role you want to assume as an adult."
Career Month Opens
Students' Eyes
This positioning begins in sixth grade and runs throughout each student's time at Valley. Three years ago, Valley expanded Career Day to Career Month. Now, on each Friday in February at lunchtime, students hear presentations by professionals pursuing such diverse career paths as attorney, dentist, event coordinator, fitness specialist, court reporter and counter-terrorist intelligence advisor.
Many presenters are parents of Valley students. All are eager to share their knowledge and experience.
The underlying message, says Valley Counselor Melony Schroh, is that you have to set goals early, then work to achieve them. She explains, "The kids begin to understand that they are responsible for their success; that they have to make it happen."
University Exploration
Expands Students' Horizon
The journey of educational discovery was bolstered among all of Valley's nearly 350 eighth-graders on what Principal Morales bills as the first University Exploration.
"Over a two-day period, we took the students to the University of California at Irvine (UCI). For most, this was their first visit to a university campus," he said. "The tour made quite an impression on them."
The kids listened to a UCI staff member explain prerequisites, toured the campus and experienced what it would be like to attend and perhaps live at a university.
Parent-chaperone Lisa Naugler says the trip was inspirational.
"One teacher told a group of boys, 'You have the potential to go to a school like this. You have to want it and focus on what you need to do to make it happen. It is a choice you make, and you can do it!' she said.
Seeing the campus first-hand makes each of these students, no matter where they are academically, realize that higher education is a possible, attainable and desirable goal. This knowledge can be transformational, says Morales.
"I challenge the students, asking, 'What options will you have in 2016 when you graduate from high school?' I want them to understand that the decisions they make now impact their high school opportunities, which impact their post-high school opportunities, which impact their careers and ultimately their entire lives."
Valley, which opened in 1964, has been renovated using Prop P funds to better serve its students and the community. Being able to teach and learn in modernized classrooms is a wonderful benefit. Moving outside the "four walls" and beyond the traditional academic curriculum is a value-added benefit that will reap rewards for students in the years ahead.
At Valley Middle School, as at our other two middle schools, adolescents are not "caught in the middle," but rather "well-taught in the middle." They prepare for high school and post-secondary education.
Current seventh-graders comprise the first Carlsbad Unified class of students that will be required to complete all "A-G" high school graduation requirements as part of the District's College and Career Readiness protocol. The "A-G" refers to a set of classes required for eligibility to attend California State and University of California colleges.
Noting that the skill sets needed for success in college are similar to those needed in a job, Valley Principal C?sar Morales has created preparatory programs to help students achieve their goals. He tells the kids, "Every person has a role in society, from delivering mail to making scientific discoveries. You need to position yourself for the role you want to assume as an adult."
Career Month Opens
Students' Eyes
This positioning begins in sixth grade and runs throughout each student's time at Valley. Three years ago, Valley expanded Career Day to Career Month. Now, on each Friday in February at lunchtime, students hear presentations by professionals pursuing such diverse career paths as attorney, dentist, event coordinator, fitness specialist, court reporter and counter-terrorist intelligence advisor.
Many presenters are parents of Valley students. All are eager to share their knowledge and experience.
The underlying message, says Valley Counselor Melony Schroh, is that you have to set goals early, then work to achieve them. She explains, "The kids begin to understand that they are responsible for their success; that they have to make it happen."
University Exploration
Expands Students' Horizon
The journey of educational discovery was bolstered among all of Valley's nearly 350 eighth-graders on what Principal Morales bills as the first University Exploration.
"Over a two-day period, we took the students to the University of California at Irvine (UCI). For most, this was their first visit to a university campus," he said. "The tour made quite an impression on them."
The kids listened to a UCI staff member explain prerequisites, toured the campus and experienced what it would be like to attend and perhaps live at a university.
Parent-chaperone Lisa Naugler says the trip was inspirational.
"One teacher told a group of boys, 'You have the potential to go to a school like this. You have to want it and focus on what you need to do to make it happen. It is a choice you make, and you can do it!' she said.
Seeing the campus first-hand makes each of these students, no matter where they are academically, realize that higher education is a possible, attainable and desirable goal. This knowledge can be transformational, says Morales.
"I challenge the students, asking, 'What options will you have in 2016 when you graduate from high school?' I want them to understand that the decisions they make now impact their high school opportunities, which impact their post-high school opportunities, which impact their careers and ultimately their entire lives."
Valley, which opened in 1964, has been renovated using Prop P funds to better serve its students and the community. Being able to teach and learn in modernized classrooms is a wonderful benefit. Moving outside the "four walls" and beyond the traditional academic curriculum is a value-added benefit that will reap rewards for students in the years ahead.