Daniel Wright Junior High School
Sixth-Grade Team Building Changes
A major part of the middle school philosophy incorporates team building and implementing an advisory program. Historically, sixth-grade students participated in a February Outdoor Education program (ODE) that included team building and fostered a sense of community. Due to the Covid pandemic, ODE was unable to run the last two years. During that time, the sixth-grade staff used the opportunity to evaluate the delivery model for this program. The team piloted multiple activities, which provided consistent opportunities for self-reflection and community building. An important realization from this evaluation was the need to start activities early in the school year and incorporate activities throughout the year so that students can benefit from a greater sense of belonging within Daniel Wright. Understanding this need to begin earlier, we are piloting a new program to optimize the learning experience for students.
The new program will include:
Monthly extended advisory activities that promote team building, connections to the school, engagement with teachers, and self-reflection, including the October Under-Nighter experience.
Capstone event - an experience to allow students to go offsite to focus on team building, including activities around the competencies of our new Portrait of a Graduate such as collaboration, adaptability, and perseverance.
This year, for their capstone event, the sixth-grade students will have an overnight ODE experience in the spring because they have not had an ODE experience in D103 due to COVID. Please look for continued communications later this year regarding the monthly activities and the ODE experience.
Thank you for your partnership and we look forward to our new team building experiences for our sixth-grade students.
Daniel Wright Information
Principals
- Principal Michelle Blackley, Ed.D.
- Assistant Principal Nina Nusbaum, Ed.D.
- Assistant Principal Melody Littlefair