SMS Annual Report

February 7, 2023

Dear Parents and Community Members:

We are pleased to present you with our Annual Education Report (AER), which provides key information on the 2021-22 educational progress for Saugatuck Middle School. The AER addresses the complex reporting information which is required by federal and state law. The school’s report contains information about student assessment, accountability, and teacher quality. If you have any questions about the AER, please contact Principal, Mark Neidlinger for necessary assistance.

The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting the following web site https://bit.ly/3GJzvqM, or you may review a copy in the main office of  your child’s school.

For the 2020-21 school year, schools were identified using definitions and labels as required in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). A Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school is one that has at least one underperforming student subgroup. An Additional Targeted Support (ATS) school is one that has three or more underperforming student subgroups. A Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school is one whose performance is in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state or has a graduation rate at or below 67%. Some schools are not identified with any of these labels. In these cases, no label is given.

Our school HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN ONE OF THESE LABELS.

Saugatuck Middle School students continue to demonstrate academic proficiency and growth in state assessments at a much higher rate than schools with similar demographics and the state of Michigan average. Our data tells us that economically disadvantaged students at SMS scored nearly 20% above the state average in the category of “economically disadvantaged” students over the past two years. Still, they underperform their peers on state assessments. High expectations for student learning, combined with strong academic support from teachers and support staff including: differentiated instruction, team teaching, paraprofessional support, social-emotional supports, advisory periods,  homework club, office hours, formative assessment and re-teaching strategies are all implemented daily to support our students and to close the achievement gap. In 2018-2019, the gap between males and females overall academic performance on the M-STEP showed an advantage for female students down from a 19% gap two years ago.

State law requires that we also report additional information.

1. Process for assigning pupils to the school; Students are assigned to our school based on the boundaries of our school district. In addition, students are welcome to come to Saugatuck Middle School as students of choice from neighboring districts.
2. The status of the 3-5 year school improvement plan; Our 2021-2022 School Improvement Plan serves as a framework to guide our efforts to improve in all curricular areas. Our teachers review and analyze data frequently in order to adapt our curriculum, meeting the needs of our students. SMS continues to have goals in math, reading, writing, science and teacher use of educational technology.
3. Specialized Schools; we do not provide specialized schools.
4. Core Curriculum; At Saugatuck Middle School, we are continually working to shift our curriculum to meet the requirements of the Common Core curriculum adopted by the state of Michigan. Common Core standards can be reviewed by visiting the Michigan Department of Education website (http://wwmichigan.gov.mde).
5. Parent Teacher Conferences; during the 2021-2022 school year, we continued our practice of offering one in person evening along with one remote offering for our parents,  which bolstered the overall attendance count. On average, 77% of our students’ parents attended Parent/Teacher conferences, or approximately 85% of our students’ parents.

I am extremely proud of the work ethic, creativity, academic achievement, character and    attitude displayed by our students each and every day. I am also deeply appreciative of the many charismatic adults, parents, teachers, coaches, and support staff that all make a difference with our students’ day in and day out. It has helped us to develkop and secure a healthy learning environment here at Saugatuck Middle School.

Sincerely,

Mr.Mark Neidlnger, Principal 
Saugatuck Middle School

MN:kjs