Ashe Middle Once Again Designated a 'School to Watch'

By Joel Frady

The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grade Reform has once again designated Ashe County Middle

School as one of their Schools to Watch. Since the program was brought to North Carolina in 2002, ACMS is one of only three schools in the state to be designated three times (the school was originally designated in 2003 and was honored again in 2006) and one of only seven in the nation.

John Harrison, the executive director for the Schools to Watch program in North Carolina, said that the school's "can do" attitude has stood out during his visits to the campus in Warrensville.

"One of the things that I do is spend a lot of time talking to schools about the challenges that they have, and a lot of the time people will talk about what they can't do," said Harrison. "One of the things that really stands out about Ashe County Middle is: [they're] all about no excuses, taking care of business and doing what they can do. The results really bare fruit, because instead of saying 'We've got these challenges and we can't do things,' they say 'Alright, this is the challenge. How can we meet it and how can we exceed it?'"

Schools in the program are judged on three criteria: academic excellence, developmental responsiveness and social equity. Harrison added that, in addition to these criteria, Ashe County Middle has also managed to create a sustainable program.

"One of the things that sets Ashe County Middle apart is that they focus on all three of those areas that we really know make for a high performing school, and that's hard to do," Harrison said. "It takes strong leadership, not just in the administration but in the teachers. When you visit Ashe County Middle, you see from top to bottom that the entire school community has that commitment to having every kids be as good as they can possibly be, and that is the entire purpose of Schools to Watch: to try to help that be the norm instead of the exception.

"We're working in that direction, but Ashe County Middle is very far down the road," he continued.

Ashe County Middle School Principal Bobby Ashley said that the sustainability of the program has been his greatest challenge, especially since the school is only home to seventh and eighth graders. He noted that while elementary schools host children for several years and can make adjustments on a student-by-student basis, "… when you're in a school with only two grades, it becomes more difficult to do that, so sustainability is the issue of performing at high levels year to year to year."

Ashley noted that ACMS was one of the first 14 schools in America to achieve the Schools to Watch designation, and must reapply for the designation every three years. He said that the school has received several awards in the recent years: they were one of five schools in the nation to receive the National Association of Secondary School Principals' Breakthrough Schools Award in 2008, and the school has served as a model school for the International Center for Leadership in Education.

"I know we have a good school based on criteria that someone else developed, not just the principal walking in and saying 'We're nice to kids and good to children so therefore we're a good school, " or just our test scores," said Ashley. "It's a tribute to the staff. It's just a wonderful, wonderful bunch of people. … I smile every time I enter the school building."

To find out more about Ashe County Middle School, call (336) 384-3591 or click to ashemiddle.ashe.k12.nc.us. TO find out more about the Schools to Watch program, click to www.schoolstowatch.org.