14
DOWNSIZING A SUPER-SIZED SCHOOL
When you are the largest
middle school in the State
of Missouri, it?s all about
having the right attitude.
Troy Middle School (TMS)
Counselor Amy Moore said
the entire faculty and sta?
have the “can do” attitude.
“We never say we?re too
big to do anything. We
have masterminded some
pretty amazing things,”
she said. In the spring
of
2013,
counselors
Amy Moore and Laurie
Richterkeissing took 500
eighth grade students to
Lindenwood
University
for a college visit in three
days.
“I think you could easily
get the attitude of ?it?s too
much work, it?s too big,
not enough teachers to
do it,?” Moore said. The
daunting task of a college
visit wasn?t too much for
the two counselors with
the help of a plethora of
parent volunteers, but
the size of the group was
too daunting for several
universities in the region
that declined a visit from
TMS.
TMS doesn?t let the
1,400+ students stop
them from doing what?s
best for kids. Another
monstrous task at TMS
is annual testing in
the gymnasium for the
Missouri
Assessment
Program. Testing in the
gym allows the students to
receive one set of directions
from one person and sets
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the high expectations for
students. Counselor Laurie
Richterkeissing said you
can hear a pin drop during
the four hours of testing.
It?s the “can do?s” of
these tasks that not
only do what?s best for
middle school students
in the Lincoln County
R-III School District, but
lends itself to promoting
a smaller community.
The teaming concept is
another piece of creating a
unity
smaller community for the
h
students. Each grade level
has “teams” of students
which places them into
much smaller populations.
The students on each team
will only be in their classes
rs
with members of their
own team. Currently,
rrently,