COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 92

April 29, 2005

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Jo Lynne DeMary Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	Schools to Watch Award Recipients and 2006 Award Competition

In 2003, Virginia was selected to join the Schools to Watch Program sponsored by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. This is a special honor for the commonwealth as only eleven states have been selected to participate during the three years that the program has been conducted.

The objective of the program is to select and recognize outstanding middle schools that demonstrate success in:

• achieving academic excellence;
• responding to the unique challenges of early adolescence;
• providing every child with high-quality teachers, resources, and learning opportunities; and
• structuring the school as a learning organization to sustain excellence.

In 2004, four Virginia middle schools were selected as Schools to Watch. I am pleased to announce that one more Virginia middle school has been recognized and added to the Schools to Watch list in 2005. These schools include:

• Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Fairfax County, Michelle Peyser, Principal, 2004;
• Herbert J. Saunders Middle School in Prince William County, Catherine P. Putre, Principal, 2004;
• Lynnhaven Middle School in Virginia Beach City, Michael Kelly, Principal, 2004;
• Rachel Carson Middle School in Fairfax County, August Fratteli, Principal, 2004; and
• Marstellar Middle School in Prince William County, Karen Poindexter, Principal, 2005.

These schools are considered important resources for other schools to consult in their efforts to improve all middle-level programs in the commonwealth. They join fifty other Schools to Watch in ten other states.

Applications and instructions are posted at http://www.vmsa.org for the 2006 Schools to Watch awards and will be due to the Schools to Watch committee on September 1, 2005. If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Dore (edore@radford.edu ), president, Virginia Middle School Association at (540) 831-5843 or Catherine Rosenbaum (catherine.rosenbaum@doe.virginia.gov), specialist for reading and language arts, Office of Middle and High School Instruction, at (804) 225-2665.

JLD/CR/yba