To maximize the teaching and learning experience, Richards Middle School will prioritize the well-being of our staff and students, so they are in their optimal physical, mental, and emotional frame of mind while in the classroom each day. 

1.     Richards Middle School administrators will meet with 6th-8th grade Student Advisory Council members, Peer Leaders, and/or Student Council members to increase opportunities for student voice throughout the school.

2.     Richards Middle School administrators will meet with members of the Teacher Advisory Council, Instructional Leadership Team, and Collaborative Learning Teams to increase opportunities for teacher voice throughout the school.

3.     Student clubs and extracurricular activities will continue to expand to support the needs and desires of our students. The school will offer three new sports for students to include Girls Volleyball, Boys and Girls Soccer, and Boys and Girls Cross-Country.

4.     Weekly advisement Character Strong lessons and PBIS programming will target students' social and emotional learning, self-management, and character development. Navigate 360 will continue as a behavioral support intervention for students who receive school suspension.

5.     A new wellness space has been created for staff as a quiet place for physical, mental, and emotional renewal. 

6.     A robust counseling program supports students and staff at each grade level. Counselors teach guidance lessons for every classroom during the school year.

*Student responses will increase from 40% to 45% on the EES Survey question, “I enjoy coming to this school”.

*Student responses will increase from 49% to 58% on the EES Survey question, “I am good at figuring out the best solution to problems I am facing”.

*Staff responses will increase from 85% to 90% on the EES Survey question, “My principal/administrator cares about me as a person”.

To close learning gaps, accelerate student learning, and address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of our students, it is imperative that we provide a multi-tiered system of intervention and enrichment support. 

1.     A full-time MTSS Coordinator will continue to provide leadership in organizing and facilitating academic and behavioral interventions, student progress data management, SSTs, and RTI referrals.

2.     Richards Middle School will utilize data from the iReady screener to place students in the CQI Remedial Education Program and/or identify for possible gifted program eligibility.

3.     Teachers will be provided student data profiles, so they have quick access to prior year achievement and assessment performance levels. Teachers will participate in monthly MTSS Kid Talks to review student academic, attendance, and behavioral progress.

4.     Students will continue to be offered opportunities for morning tutoring two days a week, as well as Saturday tutorial support on chosen dates throughout the school year. Select students will be scheduled for small group tutoring during daily CQI Titan Time class.

5.     New teachers will receive Restorative Circles training, and all teachers will continue with the implementation of Restorative Circles to support positive relationships with students, conflict resolution, and improved socialization with peers.

6.     All teachers and instructional support staff will participate throughout the school year in “PBIS in the Classroom” professional learning.

7.     A full-time Behavior Interventionist will continue to support at-risk students, as well as new teachers and substitute teachers.

8.     The school will continue a student attendance recognition and incentive program to improve student attendance in school.

*Richards Middle School will meet or exceed the GCPS Title I Middle School average on District Assessments for Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. 

*Richards Middle School will increase the % of students meeting 1st semester typical i-Ready growth targets in ELA, from 51.3 to the continuous improvement benchmark of 54.3. Similarly in Mathematics, the % of students meeting typical i-Ready growth targets will increase to the continuous improvement benchmark of 52.0. 

*Richards Middle School will decrease the chronic absentee rate from 14.1 to the continuous improvement benchmark of 13.5.

*Richards Middle School will increase the ML English Proficiency Progress from 57.6 to the continuous improvement benchmark of 59.7.

Richards Middle School students need unobstructed access to rigorous and relevant academic, enrichment, and extracurricular opportunities in order to help properly frame their thinking, learning, dreaming, and planning for success in college, careers, and life.

1. Richards Middle School will continue to expand extracurricular clubs and activities for students to increase opportunities for school engagement, peer socialization, and personal enrichment. Girls Volleyball, Boys and Girls Soccer, and Boys and Girls Cross-Country are three new GCPS sports where Richards Middle students will be able to participate.

2. Students will be offered a wide range of rigorous and enriching CTAE and fine arts courses to build relevant and meaningful connections to technology, engineering, computer science, business, music, and art.

3. Teachers and support staff will continue leveraging PBIS, Restorative Practices, Character Strong Advisement-SEL lessons, boys and girls mentoring programs, and other strategies and resources to support students with their behavioral choices to decrease student suspensions and time away from the classroom.

4. The GCPS 1:1 device initiative will enable each Richards Middle student to have digital access at school and home and will enable access to targeted instructional interventions for Tier II and Tier III students.

5. Screening assessments will be utilized to help identify students for gifted program testing in order to increase opportunity and access for a greater number of Richards Middle School students.

6. Fifty students from Richards Middle School will participate in a yearlong student leadership development program through a partnership with The J. W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development. 

*Using the PBIS Triangle Report, Richards Middle School will increase the percent of students with only 0-1 behavioral referrals from 88.2% to 91.2%. 

*Using the PBIS Triangle Report, Richards Middle School will decrease the percent of students with 2-3 behavioral referrals from 7.9% to 6%. 

*Using the PBIS Triangle Report, Richards Middle School will decrease the percent of students with 4+ behavioral referrals from 3.8% to 2.8%. 

*Richards Middle School will increase the number of students participating in extracurricular teams and clubs, compared to 2023-2024. 

*Richards Middle School will increase to 13%, the percentage of 6^th grade students qualifying for the gifted program. 

Planning and working within a Results-Based Evaluation framework will enable our teachers and leaders to utilize the plan, do, check, act process for setting goals and monitoring/measuring incremental student progress at key intervals during the school day. 

1.     LSPI goals are designed, shared, implemented, and monitored to ensure supportive community and academic press are evidenced through teacher practices and student learning outcomes.

2.     GCPS District Assessments will be given quarterly to students as a measure of academic progress and a means for providing appropriate reteaching opportunities.

3.     The iReady screener will be utilized multiple times in the school year to identify student learning levels and to ensure students receive remediation or enrichment instruction in math and language arts.

4.     Math and Reading teachers will receive professional learning in iReady to help leverage the program’s instructional benefits for students.

5.     Daily CQI Titan Time classes and academic connections classes will support targeted math and language arts interventions for students who are learning below grade level.

6.     Weekly collaborative learning team meetings will continue to serve as the place where curriculum, instruction, and assessment are aligned and the instructional variance between classrooms is reduced.

* Richards Middle School will meet or exceed the GCPS Title I Middle School average on District Assessments for Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. 

*Richards Middle School will increase 6th grade ELA proficient and distinguished % from 34.9 to the continuous improvement benchmark of 42.3. 

*Richards Middle School will increase the 6th grade ELA Milestones Performance Index from 58.6 to the continuous improvement benchmark of 63.3

*Richards Middle School will increase reading scores on the Georgia Milestones in grades 6-8 to the following continuous improvement benchmarks.

6th grade - 56% to 57%

7th grade - 72.3% to 76%

8th grade - 74.6% to 75.1%.

*Student responses will increase from 42% to 55% on the EES Survey question, “In my class students are busy doing schoolwork”. 

We will build our parents' capacity to support their children's academic achievement by implementing the activities identified in The Plan/The Promise.

1.     Richards Middle School will offer multiple opportunities for families to attend and participate in school-wide open house/community fair, parent curriculum night, Title I parent workshops, cultural celebrations, fine arts presentations, feedback meetings, and competitive sports events.

2.     To create a more comprehensive family support system, Richards Middle School will offer a community engagement fair to foster relationships with community partners who offer services to support families and children in various areas, such as social, physical, emotional, academic, and mental well-being.

3.      Richards Middle School will attempt to communicate all information with parents in a language and format they understand, and whenever possible, we will provide interpreters during parent workshops and academic events.

4.     A parent outreach liaison will facilitate communication, outreach, resources, and training opportunities for parents to foster greater parent engagement with their child's education.

5.     Richards Middle School will keep parents informed throughout the year about what their child is learning through parent meetings, conferences, eCLASS, ParentSquare, social media platforms, school newsletters, the school marquee, and website.

6.     Teachers will ensure parents are kept abreast of their child’s educational progress through proactive weekly communication practices.

7.     Richards Middle School will provide academic curriculum resources for families, as well as resources to support the social, physical, emotional, and mental well-being of all students, as needs arise during the school year.

*Richards Middle School will increase family participation in the EES surveys from 203 to 413, representing 20% of the school’s population and exceeding the continuous improvement benchmark of 14.4%. 

*Family survey responses will increase from 76% to 80% on the EES survey question, “This school communicates effectively with my family”.

*Family survey responses will increase from 68% to 77% of the EES survey question, “My student enjoys going to this school”.