CF School

Claggett Creek Middle School has 914 students enrolled. They are considered a Title 1 school that has a met state standards and has a satisfactory report card. There are 52% of students that receive free lunches and 10% receive reduced lunches. They have a diverse students population, which includes 2% American Indian, 4% Asian/ Pacific Islander, 34% Hispanic, 1% Black, 47% White, and 12% unknown. There is a small population of 4% that is considered migrant. 14.3% of the student population is a part of the ELL program. Claggett Creek did have to expel 3 students in 2008-2009 school year due to weapons. Claggett Creek offer extra curricular activities that include football, cross country, volleyball, wrestling, and track and field. They also have activities that students can participate in. They have support groups, for example, if student is grieving over death of parent. These activities include band/orchestra, choir, Drama, B.A.S.E, and AVID. B.A.S.E. is a before school and after school enrichment program. Many students that are ELL, IEP, 504, and TAG are mixed into the main stream classes. Claggett Creek does have ELL classes and other classes for students that need the assistance. By knowing these number it allows me to prepare for having a diverse classroom. I will have to have many ways to teach my topics, since not every student learns the same way. With the different groups and supports that are put into place it shows me that this is a caring school.

Inside the school, most of the signs are in English and Spanish. There are 3 levels to the school. They have an elevator to move equipment and students are able to use it if they have a key (ex. students with handicap). In case of a fire, there are rooms that are labeled,Area of Rescue Assistance, which are located in some of the team rooms for students to go if they are unable to use the stairs. These students go into the team rooms and push a button and these rooms are searched first. The school has many cases that have different things in each case. For a couple of weeks one case had a Science display. This display had different models that included cells, molecules, airplanes, and cities. Each model had a book next to it that showed a picture of the model and a paper that had the similarities and differences of models to full scale. Another case had awards. The staff members are friendly and easy to talk to. On Fridays, many of the teachers will dress down on this day. They will wear jeans and Claggett Creek  t-shirts or polo shirts. When you have questions, all you need to do is ask a staff member. It doesn’t matter if the question is about a policy, student, or about how to better your curriculum the staff is their to help. The Vice Principal is really nice and approachable. In the offices the names are posted of the staff in the offices. Many of the staff eat lunch together in the staff room. There are many staff rooms throughout the school. They talk about the school, students and their own personal lives. Many of the students in the school are polite. I have noticed very few students have bad attitudes about school, class, or peers while in class. During passing time the halls are really busy. It is difficult to more around, especially if you are going against traffic. During passing time, the teachers stand in front of their doors watching the halls and greeting their students. Security is also in the halls making sure that students are on their way to class and not causing trouble. In some of the halls there are students work posted and posters for different events. Students create video announcements that the teachers may or may not turn on during scheduled part of a  class period. The school is really clean.

In the mornings, the school offices do not open until 7:30 am. Teacher contract hours are from 7:30-3:30. Many teachers show up before their contract begins and leaves after their contract ends. Some of the teachers are also coaches and others participate in before and after school activities. I know of at least 1 counselor that also participates in the B.A.S.E. program. This shows me that many teaches and staff are dedicated to their students. School starts at 7:55am and ends at 2:40pm. Students are not allowed in the main part of the building before 7:30, they have to remain in the commons area or outside. The commons area is also the only spot that students are suppose to eat lunch. The students and teaching staff either have first lunch or second lunch. The school is also broken down into 70 minute block periods. A days are periods 1-5 and B days are periods 6-10. Students are not allowed to have backpacks in the classrooms. They must keep all backpacks and jackets in lockers. Over all the school has a nice feel to it. It may be hard for 6th graders to get use to lockers and leaving most of their stuff in it. There are about 41 8th grade students that help with 6th graders. These 8th graders are in leadership roles. that they have to meet the basic standards to before being selected and they have to receive training. They spend 3 days with a student making sure they get to and from their classes, have someone to eat lunch with, and help with lockers.