Principal's Message

Dear Alice Ott Student, Parent/Guardian:

Our theme this year is “Never Give Up.” We believe in the potential for all students to succeed and our goal is to encourage them to achieve in spite of all obstacles that come their way. Please remember it is our desire to involve students’ families as partners in their child’s education. We believe this increases academic achievement and creates a better atmosphere for learning and development of each student.

Our mission at Alice Ott is “To provide a safe, challenging, and supportive environment where students are prepared with the fundamentals for success in high school and beyond, developing them into responsible citizens and critical thinkers.” Therefore, we are excited to announce to families the following academic achievements from last school year:

• We are one of twenty-seven schools recognized by the state as a “Model” School, which means we were in the top five percent of the highest performing and/or highest academic growth Title I schools in the state of Oregon. This is a great honor considering there are approximately 600 Title I schools in the state. We were the only middle school to receive this honor.

• We are #6 out of approximately 191 total middle schools in overall rating. Only 7 middle schools in the state received over a 90% rating and we were one.

• We tied for 10th in math achievement growth of all schools in the state including all elementary, charter, magnet, middle and high schools.

• We are #1 in math achievement growth of all middle schools in the state. We are #25 in reading achievement growth of all middle schools in the state. We received a level 5 rating in both math and reading growth, which is the top rating you can receive.

• We were one of eighteen schools statewide nominated by the Oregon Department of Education for the Celebrating Student Success Award because of our significant growth in achievement over the past several years.

• Our overall reading achievement went up another 5% to 81% based on previous year-to-year state cut scores. This is an increase of 26% over the past four years. The state changed the cut scores last fall, which raised the bar for passing the reading state test. Even with this higher standard our school had 74% of our students meeting or exceeding benchmarks.

• Our overall math achievement went up another 14.6% to 76.5% based on the new higher standards adopted two years ago. We have also increased the number of students taking pre-algebra in seventh grade and algebra in eighth grade.

• Our attendance remains over 94%, which exceeds state standards.

Here are some brief highlights of some things you will notice at Alice Ott during the 2012-13 school year:

• We are continuing our “Comprehensive Reading Model” to reach students with specialized instruction based on their reading level and assist any student not meeting the new state benchmarks for reading or scoring lower than grade level on the Scholastic Reading Inventory assessment. Our goal is that each and every child will read at grade level by the time they leave Alice Ott. Seventh and eighth grade students that are not at benchmarks on state tests and/or the SRI will be assigned a reading class in lieu of an extra elective. All 6th grade students will have a reading class daily that is based on their reading level.

• All students will have daily math if they have not exceeded state standards or qualified for Pre-Algebra (7th graders) or Algebra (8th graders). Students that qualified for these classes earn an extra elective.

• All 6th grade students will have math and reading daily for 80 minutes regardless of level.

• We will continue our quarterly award assemblies where we recognize students that earn honor roll and have great attendance.

Here’s to a great 2012-13 school year! Never Give Up!

Sincerely,

James Johnston
Principal
Alice Ott Middle School