Teams

The students at North Pocono Middle School benefit from being on “teams,” which allows them to be served by a group of teachers dedicated to a particular student group for core subject classes. There are two teams at each of the grade levels. This means that middle school students, instead of being scheduled as if they attend a school with 700 students and 30+ core subject teachers, are scheduled as if they attend one of six small schools, each with only 125 students or less and five core subject teachers. Students on a team go to only the teachers on their team for their core subjects. The research suggests that the smaller a school and the smaller the classes, the better the probability of good instruction and successful students. By teaming, we create “schools within a school”, and therefore create a smaller school environment.

The advantage of this model is that students on a team have the same reading, English, math, social studies, and science teacher. When these teachers collaborate, it ensures that every student gets the teacher attention needed to succeed. The teachers can discuss individual students, compare notes on the effectiveness of various educational strategies, analyze data, and target students' needs for remediation and enrichment.