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= **A Whole New Parker ** = We are re-designing Parker Middle School in order to better prepare our students for success in the 21st century. We believe a greater emphasis on collaboration, social emotional learning and empathy, critcal thinking, fostering creativity and passions, and design will create a learning environment in which students will develop the skills necessary to participate and succeed in the global marketplace.

Our new building will offer new state-of the art facilities, including larger classrooms with multiple areas designed for collaboration among students with large screen monitors for Skype-ing and conferencing, individual stations where students can 'plug in' their personal computer (iPad) and access a full size keyboard, if desired. In addition, there will be facilities available for students to pursue their interests- from sports fields, pools, rinks, and a surf-boarding pool!- to an updated art and design center, music rooms and a renovated performing arts center.

Their longer academic day, now from 8:30 to 4:30 will allow time for every student to participate in small classes, with ten to fifteen students, that will focus on both the academic subject and the areas of greater emphasis that we believe are crucial to our students' success.

Classes at Parker will be intentionallly small (10-15 students) to allow students and teachers to build vital relationships and maintain a close home-school connection.
 * Small Classes **

**Schedule** Opening the school day later will give pre-teen and teen students more time for sleep and eating a healthy breakfast in the morning. The extended day creates a less stressful schedule with additional time for student passions, extra-curricular activities, sports, and creativity. Students will also have time to work on assignments in school, under the guidance of their teachers, with the intention of eliminating the need for homework.

Extending the length of class periods to 1 hour blocks builds more time into classes for direct instruction from teachers and additional time for guided practice. This will give teachers more options for lessons and allow for more differentiated instruction.
 * Time on Learning **

**Areas of Greater Emphasis:**


 * __Collaboration __


 * __Social Emotional Learning and Empathy__


 * __Critical Thinking __


 * __Foster Creativity and Passions__


 * __Design__


 * __Works Cited__


 * Presentation


 * How Will We Measure Success? **

By the end of their time at Parker, students will have experience applying and developing each of the 21st century skills. The teachers will develop a standards based rubric in which students will be assessed each year. Thus, each student's progress towards mastering the standards is carefully monitored and communicated to their parents.