William Davies School -

Davies Dragon

Mr. Michael J. Muldoon, Principal
Principal's Message

As part of our middle school philosophy, we continue to provide meaningful programs to all of our students.

We believe that it is our responsibility to educate the “whole child.” By this, we mean that education does not

just begin and end in the classroom. We want to encourage student involvement throughout the building. It

can mean playing on an interscholastic team, becoming involved in Student Council, participating on the academic

Think Team, joining the Renaissance movement, or working on the yearbook. These are just a few of the

Once again, we have created a student and staff schedule that will emphasize Mathematics and Language Arts Literacy. For the past six years, our staff has been trained in presenting a middle school curriculum that is all-inclusive. Our goal, as always, is to better prepare our students for high school academic life. Below are listed three major concepts that one will immediately notice when at the Davies School:

· Block scheduling in all of our mathematics classes at all grade levels (length of time – eighty-four minutes).

· Block scheduling in all of our Language Arts classes at all grade levels (length of time – eighty-four minutes).

· Home room time (25 minutes). This will provide opportunities for students to take advantage of our breakfast program and also allow time for students to meet with their teachers to discuss make-up work, to take missed tests, or to receive individual instruction.

Identified students will be scheduled into Basic Skills Instruction (BSI) classes in both Mathematics and Language Arts Literacy. Our intent is to provide services and support for those students requiring it, while maintaining the quality of a rigorous curriculum. Each day, we will provide additional instructional assistance during the homeroom period for identified BSI students.

During this school year, we will finish revising specific subjects at all grades as part of our continuing five year revision cycle. The courses being addressed are the following:

We will continue to provide a program for accelerated students in Mathematics and Language Arts Literacy. This is known as homogeneous grouping.

For all of the other subjects, and most of the Mathematics and Language Arts students, we will provide heterogeneous grouping. This type of instruction enables us to group all ability levels in the same classroom environment.

Utilizing both types of grouping, we truly believe that we can meet the needs of school-wide curricula that are demanding for all of our students. In both styles, our staff employs the use of differentiated instructional strategies for optimal learning.

In addition, this year will be adding an additional accelerated section of Mathematics and Language Arts Literacy at each grade with the purpose of continuing with our philosophy of raising our academic rigor.

· Students will receive four marking periods (of nine weeks each) of the related arts, over the course of the school year. This provides more exposure to the arts, as well as reducing the class size to fifteen students or less. We will designate each school day as either an "A" Day or a "B" Day. This means that on alternating days, students will have Health/Physical Education, and then on the other days, over the course of the year, they will be exposed to: Art, World Language (Spanish), Band, and Technology Education.

· As in the past, students in grades seven and eight will have the opportunity to take enrichment related arts classes by opting out of the other ones being offered. For example, an eighth grade student may choose to take four marking periods of Spanish instead of the traditional subjects of Band, Art, Technology Education, and Spanish.

It is our intention to continue to emphasize our Character Education and Anti-bullying programs, by presenting a variety of programs and assemblies. Some of these include: Project S.U.C.C.E.S.S., the Second Step Program, The Renaissance Program, The Seven Habits of Successful Teens, Peer Mediation, and student and staff mentoring.

· Because of student interest and participation in our various extra-curricular sports activities, we provide interscholastic sports as well as intramural sports activities after school. Although one does not measure success by wins and losses, our students always perform well.

· In addition to the various athletic opportunities, the Davies School offers several other after school extended day clubs. Some of these are as follows: Art, Band, Chorus, Computer, Stained Glass, Writing, Reading, Mathematics, Yearbook, Mediation, Homework Club, and the Math Club. As one might expect, participation in after school activities enables our students to showcase their special talents, and to learn new skills.

As always, we welcome all of our students and their parents to the Davies School. We are certainly excited about our upcoming school year and expect great things from our student body. It is everyone's feeling that the William Davies Middle School is a wonderful place to "hang one's hat!"

We are continuing to move in innovative ways to provide our students with a challenging and academically excellent education. Our philosophy of "focusing on learning, and not teaching," is creating an exemplary educational experience for all. Through staff meetings, workshops, consensus building, and increased internal and external articulation, our vision is to continue to revitalize parental communication, allow for more varied instruction and assessment, and to further ensure student achievement. As we continue to "raise the bar" on our standardized test scores, we believe that together we can be proud that our district will continue to be among the best in the State.

In closing, we as the primary stakeholders, also believe that this foundation will produce successful citizens by providing the essential skills necessary for our children’s future growth. "Every Student, Every Day, Every Way," is our district objective, and we, together as a team, are optimistic and certain that we will achieve our goal!

E-Mail Address: muldoonm@hamiltonschools.org
Davies Home Page

© 2000-03 Created by William Davies Middle School, 1876 Dr. Dennis Foreman Dr., Mays Landing, NJ 08330
Revised: August, 2009