Westview Middle School has again been named among the Colorado Trailblazer Schools to Watch, the St. Vrain Valley School District announced Thursday.
The National Forum to Accelerate Middle School Grades Reform has selected more than 100 schools across the country for the designation, which is earned through academic excellence, social equity among students and responsiveness to students’ developmental challenges, the organization said.
Westview Middle School was also recognized as a School to Watch in 2015 and 2020, so the latest honor is a recertification.
Mark Spencer, the school’s principal, said he’s thrilled to receive the prestigious designation.
“We’re proud, justifiably proud — I think it’s an affirmation of all the hard work of our staff and then also an affirmation of our community,” Spencer said. “We’re fortunate to work with a really great parent community. There are a lot of really great families here at Westview.”
The chosen schools were required to submit written applications that explained how they met the criteria. Colorado Schools to Watch teams then visited the schools to review student achievement data, observe classrooms and look at student work. The teams also interviewed faculty, parents and administrators.
Under the recertification, Westview Middle School will be expected to work with other Colorado schools to boost student achievement.
Spencer has participated in Colorado Schools to Watch teams as an observer of other local middle schools, and he said the process is invaluable.
“It identifies schools that are really doing a good job of meeting the needs of these middle-level learners,” he said. “Then we share practices and collaborate.”
Spencer and other representatives will travel to Washington, D.C. on June 23 to represent Westview Middle School in the National Schools to Watch Conference.
Centennial Middle School and Corwin International Magnet School were also named among this year’s Colorado Schools to Watch.
“It’s important to remember that middle school is different from elementary and high school,” Spencer said. “The educational and developmental needs of young adolescent learners is different, and I think it’s important that we continue to have schools that meet their needs.”
Schools that earn the designation remain certified for three years, and then must re-apply for the honor.
Katie Gustafson, director of the Colorado Schools to Watch program, said Westview Middle School “ignites student learning through intentional academic opportunities for all students, relentless relationship building, and innovative elective opportunities to meet interests of all students in the school.”
“Westview’s faculty and administrative team continuously strive to innovate and elevate learning, to reach and teach every child,” she said in a statement.
The National Schools to Watch program was launched in 1999 to honor middle-grades schools that were meeting — or exceeding — dozens of criteria developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle School Grades Reform. The forum includes educators, researchers and leaders of national associations and foundations.
