Charter: Charter School Proposal

This was the original Madison Middle School 2000 Charter School Proposal submitted to the Madison Metropolitan School District and the Department of Public Instruction.

Mission Statement:

The philosophy of Madison Middle School 2000 (MMS 2000) focused on three major strands:

1. A thematic, integrated, & multicultural curriculum
2. Technology integrated throughout the curriculum
3. Engage stakeholders in shared school governance

The school would be committed to addressing new ways in which teaching and learning could and would occur. It was dedicated to helping all students experience educational success. Madison Middle School 2000 was a school of choice open to students grades six through eight. The school actively sought partnerships with the university, parents, social services, and businesses in the community.

School Objectives:

• To create an environment in which all cultures and ethnic backgrounds feel valued and respected
• To involve students, teachers, parents, and administrators participation in selection of topic of study
• To integrate all curriculum areas of study into a theme, in order that knowledge and skills acquired in one course are applied in others
• To provide all students with access to advanced technology, multimedia, and 2-way interactive video as tools for learning
• To provide a wide variety of offerings in the unified arts, including: foreign language, art, instrumental music (strings) as well as vocal music
• To involve students in extra curricular activities, such as student council, clubs, intramurals, year books, newspapers, dance
• To implement specific policies of discipline relating to drugs and students safety

Student and Staff Composition:

The anticipated total population of MMS 2000 by 1995 is 240 students. On August 23, 1993 the school opened with 80 students. Over each of the next two years, 80 new sixth graders joined the student body. The current student population is comprised of 45 percent minority students with 20 percent qualifying for free lunch. Staff resources and support have been made available at MMS2000 to make small academic core class sizes of 20 students possible and to provide for special needs students.

Curriculum:

The curriculum integrates all subjects within a theme. The curriculum is also multicultural and multiethnic sensitive which is strongly supported by state of the market computer technology. For example, if students are creating survey questions about a topic in social studies, they may use the responses to those questions as data in math class and learn how to enter that data onto a spreadsheet, create formulas, use functions and graph data in various forms. Themes are generated by input from students, teachers, administrators and parents. Teachers and students come up with activities and teachers monitor the skills that students need to have in order to be successful. Traditional assessment measurements are currently in place, however staff and parents are exploring processed-based assessment.

Faculties and Equipment:

The school facilities include classrooms, a gym, a cafeteria, a Library Media Center, and outside recreation areas with an adjacent city park. 

The school is equipped with a wide variety of technology. A Technology Learning Center (TLC), which houses 20 computers, has been established as a place where teachers bring their classes when students are involved in a technology intensive learning activity. In the TLC are:

• 14 Apple Macintosh LC 520s
• 4 Apple Macintosh Centris 610s (),
• 2 Apple Macintosh Duo Docks. They will be a part of the school wide instructional network.

(Editors note: The LC 520s had a CPU speed of 25 Mhz and 4 MG RAM and cost $2000. The Centris 610s had 20 mgHz CPU and 4 MG RAM and cost $2520. Source: Apple History)

In additional  to the availability of application software, students will have access to e-mail and Internet. Also available in the TLC are scanners and multimedia stations to support video, video laser disks, Cd-ROM, etc. All classrooms also have 5 computers, including some power books [laptops] that provide for flexibility. It is anticipated that the power books will also be available for checkout to students who do not have a computer at home.

Currently the ratio of computers to students at MMS 2000 is 1 to 2. That is impressive in a district that is trying to achieve a ration of 1 to 8. The Library Media Center is also connected to the instructional network, and provides access to multimedia encyclopedias, periodic literature databases, online news information services, etc. In addition, all teachers have access to a computer in their classrooms, for instructional, administrative, professional and personal purposes. A computer station is also available to teachers in the teacher work room, and all teachers' stations are on the network.

Community Partnerships

Madison Middle School 2000 has already established a variety of partnerships. The instructional computing network and ISDN line connections are being designed and implemented in partnership with Apple Computer, North Shore Computing, UW-Madison Computer Science Department and Division of Information Technology, Attic Angels, Saint Mary's Retirement Center, Madison Convalescence and Rehabilitation Center, Methodist Retirement Center, Ameritech and knowledgeable parents. One component of the curriculum, "Write for Your Life" is part of a partnership with the UW-Madison Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Other partnerships are currently under construction.

Strategies:

1. Assessment- We will design a student assessment system based on individual student progress using a variety of assessment methods.
2. Curriculum- We will continue to develop a curriculum which integrates all subjects within themes generated by input from students, parents, teachers, and administration. The curriculum will be multicultural and multi-ethnic and will be supported by state of the market technology.
3. Instruction- We will deliver instruction using methods where learning is the constant and time is the variable, where students learn in flexible groupings where teachers act as facilitators, and where meaningful relationships are built among students, school staff, families and community members.
4. Technology- We will integrate technology into every function of the school and apply the "evergreen" concept for maintaining state of the market technology.
5. Organization- We will organize our school in ways that provide flexible students groupings and scheduling, effective staff planning and communication structure, integrated use of special/support staff, and strong communication patterns among all stakeholders.
6. Staffing- We will employ a diverse staff of generalists and specialists who will enable us to perform the necessary instructional, technical, and support roles with a low pupil-teacher ratio.
7. Leadership/Management- We will manage our school in a participatory manner with a clear delineation of roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders in the participatory process.
8. Facilities- We will design facilities capable  of supporting our technology an providing non-shared instructional spaces for all staff members.
9. Policies and Procedures- We will develop policies for student discipline, safety, and visitations, along with standard operating procedures.

Recommendation:

It is requested that the Board of Education designate Madison Middle School 2000 as a charter school in the Madison Metropolitan School District for a five year period (1994-1999) operating under the policies of the Board of Education.