Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

 10/30/01

NEWS RELEASE
Mt. Baker Selected as One of Thirty-two Schools
for Exemplary School Performance

A year ago, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Terry Bergeson, commissioned a task force to investigate exemplary school performance in the middle grades in Washington state and to then develop a set of strategies that can be used to enhance student learning.  In determining exemplary school performance, the task force considered individual school results in the seventh grade Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) from 1998 through 2000.  Mt. Baker Middle School was one of 32 middle level schools selected to be in this study on the basis of their improvement in WASL scores.  The resulting study showed that "school improvement is purposeful, planned, and revisited when new information is present."

Out of the 32 schools studied, 23 were actually profiled in an in-depth narrative describing their successful features.  Several aspects of Mt. Baker Middle School's program were cited for its students' improvement on the WASL.  Principal Mark Boynton was cited as a strong and active instructional leader.  Mt. Baker teachers participate in effective staff development activities specific to enabling students' mastery of the state's Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs).  Close student-teacher relationships are the core of the school's philosophy.  Recognizing student success is a major component of the Mt. Baker program.  WASL results as well as best practices research are used by the staff to enrich instruction and "not comprising on the overall school ideal of focusing all programs on the unique needs of early adolescents."

For more information, contact Mt. Baker Middle School principal, Mark Boynton, at (253) 804-4555.