École Intermédiaire Central Middle School
5121 - 48 Avenue
Red Deer, Alberta T4N 6X3
Office: 403-346-4397
Fax: 403-342-3783
Attendance: 403-342-2450
Grades: 6 - 8
Enrollment: 480
Office Hours: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
School Day: 8:20 am – 3:01 pm
A Message from the Principal:
Central Middle School has always prided itself in being an orderly school with a high level of respect among staff and students. During the past school year we researched a new behavioral program that will allow us to be more proactive in our discipline. This new program is being used in a number of schools in our district and is called EBS (Effective Behavioral Support). EBS is a school-wide strategy for helping all students achieve important social and learning goals. It is designed to foster a climate of cooperation, academic excellence, respect and safety in our school. The program uses effective instructional strategies, consistent correctional procedures, logical consequences and positive reinforcement to teach students the skills and behaviors necessary to succeed now and in the future.
As part of the EBS program, we will establish several clear rules for the behavior we expect in all areas of our school. We will explicitly teach those expectations to the students and reward them frequently with positive notes and prizes for their great behavior. The expectations for all student behavior will be clear throughout our building and playground areas, agora, gymnasium, and classrooms. You should be able to ask your child:
At CMS we will be focusing on three general expectations with regards to behaviour. These three expectations are:
If you have been in the school recently you will see the new signage focusing on RESPECT. Your child may have already come home sharing with you their green cards, and monthly reward draws for good behaviour; these are part of the new program. Students will be recognized for displaying positive behaviour in the school by receiving green cards. Students who receive a green card will have their name entered in a monthly EBS draw. Almost 2500 green cards have been handed out at CMS this year!!!
Expectations are displayed throughout the school on our new matrix. As well each student has a copy in their agenda. The matrix is the backbone of the new EBS model we are using at Central. Students are being taught what each section of the matrix means, in detail, in core classes. We would encourage parents to review the matrix with your child and help us by encouraging them to follow the expectations listed. (A copy of the EBS matrix is attached.)
A major part of the program is tracking students that have difficulty following our expectations. This is where the red card comes in. We chart all red card data and review this data carefully. Charting this data gives us a clear picture of where and when problems arise and who is causing us the most problems. From this data we will be able to be more proactive in planning supervision and our lessons. After a student gets three red cards parents will be contacted. After a fourth card the student will get an inschool suspension for a noon hour and after the fifth card they will get a ? day inschool suspension.
This process has just been modified to include the noon hour suspension. In the past a student may have been able to slip by undetected with these behaviors. If a student caused a problem with more than one staff member we would not be aware of any issues, due to the fact that each staff member was dealing with these issues individually. Many staff would let a student get 3 or more warnings before being referred to the office - this could mean by the time an office referral occurred there may have been as many as 6, or more incidents. Bad habits would be more established and difficult to change at this point. By monitoring problem behaviours more closely we hope to be more proactive in dealing with discipline issues as they arise.
Central is a great school. We feel that with this program we can ensure students and staff are more focused on learning.