Valley Middle School students and staff are grouped into 6 smaller communities, two for each grade level, creating a school within a school environment.

Villages…

create cohorts giving students strong social emotional support.

allow teaching teams to intervene early and regularly.

encourage teachers and families to continuously communicate.

encourage meaningful relationships between students and adults.

nurture connections between students having a shared identity.

are further enhanced by the physical layout of VMS with each Village in its own building.

promote teacher and staff retention. 

make natural Professional Learning Communities.

facilitate peer mentoring and coaching.

support timely staff communication.

ease teacher/administrator communications about concerns.

promote a positive teaching climate.

ease identification of struggling students.

allow cross curricular and project based learning.

Villages give positive results. When compared to “like” schools, Valley Middle School using the Village System outscores its counterparts in ELA and  Math, and supports students with special needs.