Eastern Middle School - Forest Hills Public Schools

Meadow Brook Chinese Immersion School (K-4) – Meadow Brook Elementary hosts
a 50/50 model Chinese immersion program where students learn half the core content
(math, science, and Mandarin literacy) in the Chinese language with English language
arts and social studies taught in English. From the vast amount of research available,
we know students can acquire any language faster and more easily if we begin as early
as possible. Students in the Chinese immersion learn to speak, read, and write at
scaffold levels in each subsequent grade. Teachers in kindergarten and first grade have
prescribed dates when English is no longer spoken in the classroom (December and
October respectively). Teachers in grades second through fourth start off the school
year with no English and encourage students to only use the target language in class.
Students will continue their immersion language learning in the future at Northern Trails
5/6, Northern Hills Middle School, and Northern High School.
Goodwillie Environmental 5/6 School – We are in our thirteenth year of offering to
fifth and sixth grade students a model educational program that is based primarily on
learning in the “living classroom,” the great outdoors. While this sounds easy on the
surface, it is extremely difficult to adapt a challenging state mandated curriculum to
meaningful and engaging lessons in nature. The awareness, dependency, and
flexibility upon the weather are critical for weekly/daily planning. Phonology, Magic
Spots, journaling, sketching, observing, writing, understanding, and of course just
enjoying nature is a special gift that these teachers are happy to share with their
students.
4. Identify how to access a copy of the core curriculum, a description of its
implementation, and an explanation of the variances from the state’s model
The Core Curriculum for our district is located within our Instruction Office. Copies of each
content standard, essential questions, enduring understandings, and sequence of the
course is available electronically or on paper. Committees, consistently of administrators
and teachers, are developed and rotated yearly to update and modify the content as
needed. This ensures our district remains vigilant in meeting the state's expectations for
each grade level and course.
5. The aggregate student achievement results for any local competency tests or
nationally normed achievement tests are located at the end of this letter.
6. Identify the number and percent of students represented by parents at parent-teacher
conferences:
Number & Percentage Parents/Guardians
Fall Spring
2010-2011 371 94% 355 90%
2011-2012 366 94% 350 90%
Congratulations to our students and staff on another amazing year. Students tackled a rigorous
core curriculum, exciting exploratory classes, and a variety of after school activities. Thanks to
the excellence of our caring staff and the support of our parents, Eastern Middle School students
realized our goal of “all learners achieving individual potential.”
Sincerely,
David Washburn
Principal