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Talmadge Middle School

Every student known; every voice heard

Mission & Vision

Mission & Vision

At Talmadge Middle School, our mission is to facilitate the development of skills and character that empower students to be succesful in school, college, career, and community. 

Our vision is Inspring Excellence.

Academic

  • Critical Thinking
  • Problem Solving
  • Critical Reading
  • Effective Writing
  • Inquiry

Social

  • Collaboration
  • Empathy
  • Communication
  • Service
  • Community 
  • Respect

Emotional

  • Resilience
  • Determination
  • Advocacy
  • Ownership
  • Optimism
  • Purpose
  • Self-regulation

Collective Commitments

  • We commit to ensuring 100% of students are taught grade-level standards by prioritizing essential learning outcomes and adjusting instruction, not expectations.

    This commitment ensures every student, regardless of background or prerequisite skills, accesses rigorous content. It requires collaborative pacing and resource allocation.

  • We commit to implementing consistent, non-punitive, and professional classroom management strategies that honor student dignity, with fidelity to all safety and behavior plans (BIPs/504s/IEPs).

    This ensures a predictable, emotionally safe environment, reduces disruptions, and mandates legal compliance.

  • We commit to engaging every student at the door by implementing a "4 at the Door" personal connection (greeting, name, positive word, micro-check-in) during every transition.

    This fosters a sense of belonging, which is the necessary foundation for academic risk-taking and learning, especially in middle school.

  • We commit to using common formative assessments to analyze student data collaboratively and rapidly adjust instruction to support or enrich student learning within the school day.

    This focuses on timely intervention and enrichment rather than waiting until the end of a unit or grading period.

  • We commit to maintaining a culture of adult professionalism by communicating directly, avoiding gossip, and actively participating in restorative conflict resolution with colleagues and students.

    This ensures that the adult environment is stable, positive, and focused, modeling the respectful behavior we expect from our students.

Common Agreements

Focused note taking

Educators will model focused note-taking and invite students to engage thought the process so that note-taking becomes a powerful and portable learning tool students can carry with them throughout their educational experience.

Marking the text

Educators will teach and use a schoolwide system for marking the text, creating a predictable instructional routine for students when they engage with a text.

Interactive notebooks

Educators will design and use interactive notebooks as a way for students to create a visible and interactive tool for learning and engagement.

Essential questions & learning objectives

Educators will use essential questions and learning objectives to structure, sequence, and plan student learning, allowing students to have a clear understanding of the purpose of the unit and/or lesson as well as expected learning outcomes.

Collaboration/relational capacity

Educators will intentionally incorporate relational capacity activities, and work to cultivate relationships with students to build collaboration skills and a sense of belonging in their classrooms and in the school community.

Academic language

Educators will develop instructional routines that support all students as academic language learners, so they can successfully navigate rigorous academic conversations and content in order to be college and career ready.