Team Roosevelt City middle school builds success, community through teacher partnerships By CHRISTINA CONNELLY, Standard-Times special Roosevelt Middle School teacher Diane Banas is more than ready for her seventh-grade social studies class to begin. What may surprise a casual observer is that her students appear every bit as ready as she is. They stride to their desks, chat briefly with friends and quickly settle down. They take out last night's homework, maps of ancient Mesopotamia, before roll is called. Mrs. Banas has 45 minutes to lead this class, and after 19 years of teaching, she's probably used to being a slave to the clock. Still, she spends precious time handing out kudos and stickers to her young cartographers. She is connecting with her students in a way that is key to the mission of New Bedford's new middle school initiative. "Middle school is conducive to growing up," says Roosevelt literacy teacher Shelly Sylvia. "These kids need connection with teachers, and with peers. They don't get that in junior high." New Bedford is in the process of transforming its three junior high schools into middle schools. The transformation includes new school buildings as well as wholesale changes in the schools' philosophies and teaching methods. The transition is well underw ay at the new Roosevelt, and is slated to begin in earnest next school year at Normandin. Keith Junior High will be the last school to make the transition. Just last month, New Bedford schools superintendent Michael Longo received the Superintendent's Award from the New England League of Middle Schools. The award recognizes completion of the Roosevelt Middle School and its dedication to middle school development throughout the city. According to Roosevelt principal Brian Abdallah and the landmark "Turning Points" study (1989, 2000), middle schools have a greater record of success in educating young adolescents than the traditional junior high. Centered on such concepts as team teaching, small learning communities and community connectedness, the middle school has proven a far more effective way to transition children from elementary to high school, says Mr. Abdallah. "The middle school model attends to the whole student -- social-emotional, physiological and cognitive needs," Mr. Abdallah says. One of the most crucial means to the middle-school end is the grade-level teaching team, and one of Roosevelt's successes is the eclectic conglomeration of dedicated educators that make up one of the school's three seventh-grade teams. These teachers -- Athena Adams, Barbra Conlon, Diane Banas, Darrel Hoagland, Thomas Mullarkey and Shelly Sylvia -- exemplify the culture at the new Roosevelt, and the culture of the middle school in general, one invested in total student success. In everything they do, they work to make the school's motto, "Roosevelt Middle School: Where all Kids Succeed," a reality. "Last year, we had 98 out of 100 kids pass MCAS," boasts math teacher Athena Adams. "A 98 percent success rate … we must be doing something right." Addressing the team approach at Roosevelt, Ms. Adams adds, "We were autonomous. Now we're interdependent. It provides more consistency for the students and more support for us." "I love being part of a team," says Mrs. Banas, the team's social studies teacher. "I cherish my team. I don't think I'd ever want to go back." Mrs. Banas notes that being part of the team hasn't changed her basic teaching style, but has given her some new ideas and injected her with new energy. Some of that energy comes from Ms. Sylvia, the team's literacy teacher, and a new kid on the teaching block. The women describe Mrs. Sylvia, a diminutive, young- looking 24-year-old, as "a natural," whose inherent abilities and instincts have been enhanced and nurtured by being part of the team. "When I got here," says Mrs. Sylvia, "I had so much support. I would have had a really difficult first year without it." Mrs. Banas says the team- teaching concept creates little schools within the school, fostering this vital sense of community and connection. "The kids know we care," she adds. The seventh-grade team shares a floor with their sixth- grade counterpart, the same teachers who taught their students last year. The team says this gives the students a real sense of continuity in their education, and offers the teachers an opportunity to discuss particular student needs with colleagues who have spent a whole year with them. "We're in constant communication with the sixth-grade team," says Mrs. Sylvia. Moments later, as if to illustrate the point, a member of the sixth-grade team walks in to share with Mrs. Sylvia and the rest of the team her congratulations over a student's recent classroom triumph. The culture at Roosevelt is focused on building self-confidence and self-worth. The team members take that responsibility to heart: English language arts teacher Darrel Hoagland requires that students write the affirmation, "I think and behave like a winner," on every paper, test or quiz they hand in. The team is likewise focused on integrating learning across curricula and connecting the classroom with the real world. On this score, says Mrs. Sylvia, the students are helped along by the variety of teaching, learning and assessment modes to which they're been exposed. The team also incorporates a lot of group work and teacher-directed peer assessment. "We work as a team. They are learning to work as a team," says Ms. Adams. "That's how it is in the workforce, in college. We're preparing them for the world beyond Roosevelt." Ms. Sylvia adds, "It's about accountability. You look bad if your teammates are prepared and you're not. That's like real life." As attentive as these teachers are to their students' futures, they must also deal with the challenge of present-day reality. This group is not one to decry "kids these days," but they all agree that things have changed over the years. "It's not that the kids are different," says Tom Mullarkey. "The families are different. A lot of these kids have very difficult home lives." The teachers agree that changing social and cultural realities have put more of the onus on schools and teachers to become surrogate families. Add to this more stringent frameworks, MCAS requirements and expanding technologies, and you have a stressful environment, they say. "You have to find the line," says Mrs. Banas. "If you don't, it will kill you." Ms. Adams agrees. "I have my own family, my own life. I can't become too involved in their personal lives. I don't cross that line. I'm a teacher. That's my job. What we do is make our students feel good about themselves. And to do that, they need success in the classroom. We do everything we can to promote success." "Everything" includes offering students multiple chances to demonstrate competency, an after-school tutoring program, a homework club, the Roosevelt Math/English Language Arts Team, and special needs monitoring in the classroom. For special needs students, the team has help from Barbra Conlon, a 28-year special education teacher whose role at Roosevelt is as special needs advocate within the new "inclusion" model. Ms. Conlon also participates in the team's daily planning sessions in which the teachers make decisions about curriculum, team management, individual student issues, instructional support, and team concerns. Later, at a planning period, the team addressed disciplinary concerns, scheduled parent conferences, and picked nominees for Roosevelt's "Star Student" and "Student of the Month" awards. Marking a large desk calendar, they also scheduled tests, quizzes and projects. The team is clearly on a roll; in the planning room as well as the classroom, time is a precious commodity. "There aren't enough hours in the day," laments Ms. Adams. "We have 45 minutes (per class). That's why I emphasize coming to class prepared. I don't want to waste any time." This story appeared on Page B1 of The Standard-Times on April 15, 2003.