Forest Grove Middle School
Worcester Public Schools
The Worcester Public School District, comprised of 25,044 students within 45 different schools, is the second-largest school district in the state of Massachusetts. This large, urban district serves a socioeconomically and racially diverse student body, with over 80% of students classified as high needs. Worcester Public Schools is classified as a Title 1 school district.
Many middle school students in the district apply to Worcester Technical High School in 8th grade, a selective STEM and trade focused school with strong academics and high graduation rates. Their acceptance to Worcester Tech is largely determined by their 7th grade performance. [17] [24]
Forest Grove Middle School
Home of the Unicorns, Forest Grove Middle School is comprised of approximately 938 7th and 8th grade students and 70 teachers. The students are divided into "clusters" of around 100 students each based on the students' core teachers. Students also stay with their same class all day and rotate through their core subjects, however, they are in different enrichment classes so they can meet other students from the cluster.
This year followed a block schedule in which students attended their first 4 classes on Monday, and their next 3 classes on Tuesday. This was repeated for Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday was an asynchronous day.
School Demographics
Student Race and Ethnicity
Forest Grove Middle School serves a diverse group of 7th-8th grade students. According to DESE, 14.4% of students at Forest Grove identify as African American, 6.3% identify as Asian, 36.7% identify as Hispanic, 0.3% identify as Native American, 37.7% identify as White, and 4.6% identify as Multi-Race, Non-Hispanic. The students of Forest Grove come from many different cultures, and so bring a variety of different experiences and outlooks to the classroom. [15]
Selected Student Populations
Over 70% of Forest Grove Middle School students are considered high needs, meaning that these students need additional support and structure. Additionally, over 48% percent of students do not speak English as a first language, and over 51% of students are economically disadvantaged. Many students represented on this chart fit into multiple of these categories. Thus, most of my students come to class with a number of obstacles to accessing their education. [15]
Forest Grove Middle School has approximately equal proportions of male and female students. Though DESE officially reports that there are no nonbinary students in the school or district, a few of my students disclosed to me that they prefer to use they/them pronouns. However, as shown by the data above, their gender identities are not reflected on their enrollment. [15]
school Academics
ELA MCAS
Math MCAS
Science MCAS
Forest Grove Middle School scores, on average, slightly higher than the rest of the Worcester Public School District on all subjects of the MCAS. However, the school and district both score well below the state average for standardized test scores in all subjects and are categorized as partially meeting expectations. In my experience teaching, however, I found that all students had the ability to succeed and to meet high expectations in the classroom, regardless of their MCAS scores, and that MCAS scores did not predict success in the online environment. [15]