Project Outline

Elevate’s Steering Committee recognizes that the middle school years are a period of significant change for both students and their families. It is a unique time when students are developing a more independent relationship to school and their families and are creating expectations for their futures. A positive middle school experience that includes appropriate supports and diverse opportunities can have long lasting impacts on social and emotional development, academic success, and educational attainment. Elevate seeks to ensure that every middle school student successfully transitions to a secondary education experience that meets their needs. To help achieve this goal, Elevate launched a Middle School Working Group in January 2021. The Middle School Working Group was given the following agenda, to which they added an equity statement, in italics:

• The Middle School Working Group knows students and their families are diverse, so we work to create strategies that build on their strengths and remove barriers to success.
• Increase positive connections among middle school students, their families, schools, and the community through purposeful communication and meaningful engagement.
• Create opportunities in schools and in the community that inspire all students and support their successful transition to high school.

To read the Middle School Working Group Report click here.