Dear Parents, Students, and Friends,                

These are exciting times for Gra-Mar Middle school, in which the achievement of our students is paramount.   Academically, we have taken great strides toward excellence.  Spanish I and Physical Science classes tested at 100%!   Algebra I achieved an 87% success margin for the Gateway test.
As a result,  thirty-seven students will enter high school with at least one credit (up by three over last year),  seven will have at least two credits and nine will have three credits.  Two of our eighth grade students will have four credits as they enter high school.  Out of the thirty-seven students with one credit, nine of them are seventh grade students,  for a total of fifty five students with high school credits. Those are phenomenal statistics!

Our writing scores were the very best  ever at Gra-Mar with fifth graders testing at  ninety-two percent proficiency and eighth graders at  ninety-four percent  on the TCAP writing assessment.   Additionally, seventh graders tested at  83% proficiency on the District writing assessment, a precursor to next year when they take the TCAP writing test.  We accomplished these feats while significantly adding to our advanced course roles, increasing students that qualify for honors each six weeks, and reducing negative behavior school-wide.  We saw tremendous enthusiasm generated by the PIP student interview process, the TCAP Friday challenge, School Wide Writing prompts and the Think Link challenges.  All of these strategies helped to improve test awareness and hopefully will improve test scores overall.  We also exited nearly two dozen students from Language!, a notable accomplishment.

Once again we were successful athletically. This year, we started with a new coaching staff; I challenged the students to reach for higher levels of achievement in both athletics and academics. We accomplished both. Our boy’s basketball team (finished third in the Eastern Division) and the football team(finished second in the North-Eastern Division) ending the regular season with six wins and one loss.  We became (EasternDivision runner-up) in wrestling, and both girls and boys track teams captured the Eastern Division. Our young girls finished fifth and the boys finished second in the City track meet. Even though our fledgling soccer team finished the season without a win the excitement, enthusiasm, and energy has created much promise for next year.  Repeating last year’s success, our girls were the overwhelming Cheerleading team of the year!   Awesome accomplishments!  In addition to these athletic feats, a large majority of our athletes participated in after school tutoring sessions, and in Saturday School.

These were just an example of the many activities that helped us maintain an atmosphere of excitement, enjoyment, and hope for our children while emphasizing the role of student-athlete. Our mission states
 it best;  that we are in partnership with the parents and the community, to prepare students to become responsible and productive citizens. The staff at Gra-mar Middle School strives to provide a trusting and caring environment  where teaching and learning are exciting, and students are performing at or above grade level in all academic areas.

Sincerely,

Dr. Barry Potts