Principal's Welcome Letter

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students:

Welcome to Beach Park Middle School, the home of the Eagles!

We, BPMS teachers and students, soar like Eagles. For the 4th year in a row, our Eagles have made significant improvement on the ISATs. In fact, we are considered a performing school according to the Sate of Illinois. When many schools are not making the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) established by the state, we are rising to the challenges even when the stakes or requirements are rising. We are proud of our students, teachers, staff, School Board and community for supporting our efforts and believing in our students.

We believe that our accomplishments continue to be contributed to curriculum mapping, character education, positive student-faculty rapport, differentiation, student motivation and school pride. These initiatives have positively impacted student achievement and the overall climate of the BPMS.

Three years ago, we began aligning curriculum. After aligning our teaching practices and resources to the Illinois Learning Standards and Curriculum Frameworks, we can more efficiently delivered instruction. This Illinois Learning Standards and Curriculum Frameworks are the skills students need to know to be successful on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT), and in the real world. When teachers align their teaching practices and resources to the state standards and frameworks, they create opportunities for academic success. The alignment process helps to increase instructional time. Instructional time is increased when teachers provide instruction that is extremely focused on the skills that students will need to be productive citizens.

In addition to aligning Illinois Learning Standards and curricula, our teachers are now creating Power Standards to develop a comprehensive outline of what is taught at each grade level and to what extent concepts will be taught during each school year. Teachers from all of the ZBTHS feeder schools are working together to ensure that all of our students are prepared to go to the high school. They are also integrating the college readiness standards into the Power Standards so that our students obtain the necessary skills at the middle school level to be on a college track before evening entering the high school. At this time, approximately 80 percent of our students are on the college track.

Due to the alignment process and enthusiasm of our teachers and students, our students have increased achievement in reading, and math. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) reports outcomes on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) by subgroups. The subgroups are African-American, Caucasian, Hispanic, Low Income, and IEP (students with Individualized Educational Plans or students in special education). In 2006, BPMS met or exceeded the expectations of the state on the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests (ISAT) in all academic areas, and almost all subgroups. Words cannot express how much we (teachers, staff and administrators) appreciate the efforts of our Student Leaders. Our Student Leaders continually supported, advocated and encouraged their peers to show pride by performing at their ability on local and state assessments. Their efforts continue to make a huge difference on the Illinois Standards Achievement Tests in 2006.

We believe that the Academic Explorations classes have much to do with raising student performance on the ISAT (Illinois Standards Achievement Test). As you may know, AE was just after school. We offer some AE classes during the day this year to offer the same opportunities to those students who are unable to attend AE after school. In order to ensure that students continue to close their learning gaps and are motivated to do well on assessments, we need the continual support of our parents. You can support our efforts by having your students attend AE, when your student is requested to be there. It is a free service. AE is on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. We will need the support of our parents to ensure that our students get the services and motivation needed to help our Eagles soar to success in school and the real world.

Lastly, we encourage parents to join in the efforts at BPMS by attending PTSA meetings. Parent involvement is integral for the development of our school. Meetings are one time per month. These meetings are posted on the BPMS website. RSVP is not necessary. Just come to the main office at the times and dates posted on the website.

“Once an Eagle, always an Eagle!!!”