Promoting a Safe School Environment

Granger Middle School strives to maintain a community where students, parents, and faculty feel safe and secure from harm or risk that can create anxiety in the educational setting. Our commitment to each individual’s daily sense of personal security encompasses a number of initiatives.

First and foremost, we actively utilize middle school’s best practices that focus on student-centered educational practices. We teach students first; not just departmentalized subject information. We are organized on smaller teams at each grade level and offer Connections as a daily opportunity for students to link with adults in the school setting. The teaming structure is critical to a strong student-first focus

Also, in addition to a grade level counselor that moves each year with students at a given grade level, our guidance/student services team includes a variety of support services in special education, speech, reading improvement, English as a second language, social work, and nursing. These services are key to identifying and providing support for social and academic challenges that can lead to frustration and lack of successes in school.

Finally, we insist on a climate of mutual respect throughout all interactions and we have a number of proactive and reactive strategies in place to intervene when students engage in behaviors that undermine that positive atmosphere. Through Project Respect, Granger actively teaches the behaviors that are encompassed in the school-wide tenets of "Respect Yourself, Respect Others, and Respect Property."

If your child is having a negative experience (or if you suspect that something is just not right) don’t hesitate to contact the grade level counselor as a good starting point toward resolution. The counselors can offer supports for greater academic or social success and for conflict resolution through peer mediation. On matters that can lead to disciplinary interaction, Granger’s Assistant Principal / Dean of Students will be actively involved. Our handbook addresses misbehavior and serious misconduct including gang behaviors, bullying, intimidation, and irresponsible threats (whether spoken, written, or sent electronically), sexual harassment gender and/or racial slurs, and fighting. New policies in the handbook address more stringent guidelines in the student dress code, restrictions on the presence of multiple, large "balloon bunches" in classrooms and hallways, and the inception of continuation of rumors/gossip. Please be sure to review the entire handbook with your student, with additional attention being given to the new procedures listed above. These behaviors will not be tolerated within the school setting. Students at the middle school level will be held to a standard appropriate to their age and must understand that there will be consequences for inappropriate choices in the school setting.

We need your help! Students do not always report their negative experience to a faculty member. They often feel that sharing these interactions marks them as a "tattler" and lowers their status with peers. Also, students who engage in these behaviors feel that they can minimize their impact by saying that they were "just playing around" and/or "had no intent to do harm or make others feel bad." Help us let all kids know that they have a right to expect a safe school in which they continually feel secure and comfortable. Help us to be sure that all students know that any action which interferes with another individuals right to feel safe at school will be treated seriously. If you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to get in touch with a teacher, counselor, or an administrator.