September 15, 2007,

Dear Crews Parents,

We are off to a GREAT start this year!  The technology retrofit is just about completed, making Crews a wireless community and providing each teacher with a wireless laptop and each classroom an LCD projector.  Crews will have over 60 classrooms equipped with SmartBoards or Mimios (making whiteboards interactive).  The work on our construction project, which will result in 14 additional classrooms, a teacher workroom, and extra storage and office space, is coming along beautifully for a 2008-2009 school-year opening.  The Crews Middle School Band has been invited to participate in the very prestigious University of Georgia High Middle School Music Festival in December!  And, we are one of the few schools that does NOT have to displace teachers due to low enrollment!!!

As I shared in my voice message last week, our school-wide academic focus this year is “reading, writing, and thinking” for increased student learning in all content areas.  Starting this summer, teachers attended “Crews Summer Leadership” to hone their planning skills to emphasize the development and implementation of “reading, writing, and thinking” learning units.  Our learning units will include: 1) “essential questions” that focus students’ attention on the “big picture” and encourage higher order thinking; 2) integration of reading strategies and writing prompts to extend and enrich student learning; 3) student use of background knowledge and key vocabulary; and 4) learning with specific academic goals and results in mind.  None of these strategies are new to Crews Middle School.  Actually, the Crews faculty has participated in professional learning opportunities focusing on these best-practices for years!  This is one of the key reasons why Crews students have preformed so well over the years.  What is new is ALL teachers (including Connections, Mathematics, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, gifted endorsed, regular education, ESOL, and special education teachers) are owning the responsibility of teaching reading, writing, and higher order thinking so all students (i.e., regular education, English language learning, special education, and gifted students) will learn at high levels as they work toward reaching their own learning potentials.  As a result of “reading, writing, and thinking” becoming a pervasive and persistent aspect of all teachers’ practice, “quality-plus teaching strategies” will become an integral and lasting feature of teaching and learning at Crews!

Much effort and “thinking” has gone into this initiative, but because of Crews’ teachers’ talent, professionalism, and commitment, it will be a success!  We are committed to the Crews tradition of excellence and providing a world-class education to ALL students.

Thank you for your support and involvement and for providing us with the absolute best students any educator could hope to teach.

Your fan,

Dr. Gene Taylor

Proud Principal

Alton C. Crews Middle School