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Walt Clark Middle School
Principal: Martha Gustafson

Name/History: The school is named after Walt Clark, a teacher and coach at Loveland High School from 1944-1966.

Mission Statement: The staff at Walt Clark Middle School is committed to nurturing an orderly, safe, caring environment that:

  1. Challenges each individual student's academic potential
  2. Encourages each individual student's emotional and social growth
  3. Allows each individual student the opportunity to explore a variety of life-related experiences.

Culture and climate - We're a small enough school that we try to get to know our kids individually. We are a PBS (Positive Behavior Support) school that tries to catch kids doing the right things. Our acronym, ROARS (Respect, Organization, Attitude for success, Responsibility, and Safety), reflects the emphasis we put on expectations of our students. We try hard to make sure students don't slip through the cracks. Administrators meet regularly with grade-level teams to identify students who may be struggling academically or behaviorally. Interventions are suggested and implemented and then monitored. Our goal is to have each student in our building find success, from the gifted and talented students to the students in our special education programs.

Instruction - We recognize that students learn in different ways and we try to address that with an emphasis on differentiated instruction. We have worked with our teachers on strategies to differentiate based on student readiness, student interests and learning profiles, giving them strategies to differentiate in their classroom.

Expectations - We expect homework to be done by all of our students. Students who do not get homework turned in are required to attend after-school tutorial sessions to get the work done. Since implementing this policy, we have seen a marked improvement in student grades, largely due to the fact that students don't have "zeros" for homework.

Greenhouse effect - One aspect that is completely unique to Walt Clark is our greenhouse. Students in 7th grade life science participate in the experience of growing and maintaining plants, most of which they sell to the public in the spring at our annual plant sale. Students receive hands-on experience that directly applies to lessons in life science that they learn in the classroom.

Athletics - We offer a strong athletic program for those interested. We have a varsity program as well as an intramural program for students who are still developing skills. Students who compete for Walt Clark are taught to be representatives of our school and community and demonstrate class and grit throughout the year. Our teams regularly compete for championships in cross country, swimming, basketball, wrestling and track. Our intramural program offers the opportunity to compete against fellow students as a way to develop skills that can lead to participation in athletics in high school. With both programs we are able to provide the chance for students to connect with our school, which in most cases leads to improved performance in the classroom.