Principal's Message
Dear Baldwin Middle School Families,
As we look to the start of the school year, it is with great pleasure and excitement that I welcome you to the 2022-23 school year! I hope that the summer provided you and your family an opportunity to reconnect with friends and family and recharge your batteries. For those who may not have met me yet, I have been a teacher and administrator in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District for the past twenty-six years. I am excited to continue to collaborate with Mr. Peebles, Assistant Principal, and our dedicated staff to create a positive middle school learning environment where all students have the opportunity to grow both academically and socially.
Our faculty has been extremely productive this summer in preparation for the upcoming school year. They have worked and collaborated to further enhance their instructional practices and skills. Our Math teachers have focused their time on updating the curriculum and developing lessons and activities based on the newly adopted resources. The PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Team) has also met over the summer to further develop plans to implement activities and strategies to help create and maintain a positive and productive environment throughout Baldwin Middle School.
Our staff will continue to foster an environment that focuses on the unique needs of the middle school learner. As part of this commitment, the middle school administration collaborated with a committee of teachers to assess and further improve our comprehensive homeroom program, entitled “Habits of Success.” We will continue with the weekly schedule of activities that contains lessons on study skills, Common Sense Media, and career planning, along with pertinent social/emotional middle school topics.
As we reviewed the 21-22 school year, we identified that middle school students’ usage of cell phones was a major distraction to the safe and productive learning environment. Based on our assessment, we will be reinstituting the No Cell Phone procedure for 7th and 8th Grade students. Students are allowed to carry their cell phones, but they will be expected to keep the Cell Phone turned off and in either their locker, pockets or purse. If you need to get in touch with your child, you can either call the Middle School main office at 412-885-7505, or you can email your child using their school email which they can access via their Chromebook. Please see the attached file for more information concerning cell phone usage in the Middle School.
The faculty will continue to utilize the Canvas platform as part of their daily routines and instructional practices for the upcoming school year. The expectation is that all teachers will maintain a Canvas page that provides students with the resources to help them actively engage in the learning process.
The Middle School faculty and staff will explore opportunities for our students and parents to reconnect with the school and the community, making the middle school years positive and memorable for all of the children. I am looking forward to working with the talented students and a dedicated faculty to develop lifelong learners and responsible citizens as we start off the new school year on Monday, August 29, 2022!
Sincerely,
Scott D. Ross M.Ed.
Principal