Engaging Electives at Matthew J.

Kuss Middle School / Fall River, MA

hen Kuss Middle Principal: Nancy Mullen School, in Fall River, School schedule: 7:15am3:35pm Massachusetts, adopted Additional time compared to an expanded school day in surrounding district: 120 min/day 2006, administrators and staff developed a robust Student Population enrichment program Grades served: 68 that would reinvigorate Number of students: 650 their students desire to Qualify for free/reduced lunch: 84% learn. Kuss capitalized on the skills and talents of Students Scoring At or Above Proficient its faculty and partnered on the Massachusetts Comprehensive with community Assessment System Test in 2010 organizations such as (difference compared to surrounding the YMCA, Boys & Girls district) Club, and SMILES (a local mentoring program) in ELA: 57% (+4%) order to provide their Math: 47% (+10%) students with an array of enrichment opportunities. Today, Kuss offers over 30 different enrichment electives, in addition to the standard specialty classes (PE/health, art, music, and foreign language) all students take. To accommodate these electives, the school integrated two, back-to-back, 45-minute class periods into the daily schedule allowing Kuss students to take up to two different electives each day; struggling students may receive a combination of enrichment and academic supports during this time. In addition to five 90-minute core academic science periods each week, students also take at least one 45-minute science elective. These electives are designed with two main goals: targeting gaps in the standard science curricula and awakening students passion for science through a teacher-created curriculum centered on their own interests. Teachers are given planning time to design their electives, which are mapped to the state science standards. Examples of science electives offered in the 2010-2011 school year include: Design Lab, Duct Tape Engineering, Weather Watchers, Field Studies (in partnership with the Urban Ecology Institute), Project Go-Green, Astronomy I, II, and III (in partnership with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Forensics, Marine Ecology, Science of the Titanic, and Mosaic of Science.

Matthew J. Kuss Middle School

This considerable array of choices enables students to discover new interests and to develop their existing talents. Many of the electives including band, art, video production, and theaterare offered at different levels, or over several semesters or years, allowing students to move toward mastery. Students who are interested in the performing arts, for instance, can participate in the schools award-winning theater arts program for all three years of middle school. Being involved in the Kuss theater program helped me find something I want for my major in college and my future career. I think more people are coming to our school because they know that there is at least one thing that will make their middle school years memorable, explains Xavielys Perez, a Kuss student. In fact, the schools theater program has become so popular, it has been expanded to include acting workshops, technical theater (set and lighting design), and costume design. Each year, Kuss sends a delegation of students to the Massachusetts Middle School Drama Festival, where the school won a gold medal in 2009. Like many of the electives Kuss offers, this program reinforces what students are learning in their core academic classes. By producing Macbeth and Little Shop of Horrors, the program exposes students to literature that is traditionally a part of the high school English curriculum. Before students can perform, they must do a deep analysis of the text, learn advanced vocabulary, and discuss key concepts such as theme, character, and plot development. Many of the schools elective courses culminate in a final product, performance, or presentation, allowing students to demonstrate what they have learned for their peers, families, and the community at the end of a semester. The video production class, for example, created a music video to get students excited about the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Systemthe states standardized test). These talented young producers were responsible for the writing, acting/dancing, filming, and editing that went into the music video.

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