Colorado Schools to Watch
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"High Performance Scheduling in the Middle Grades"

Download the Case Studies related to Innovative and High Performance School Scheduling Practices for the following Schools to Watch:

Prairie Middle School
Russell Middle School
Mead Middle School
Conrad Ball Middle School
La Junta Middle School

These Case Studies were distributed at the annual conference of the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) on July 29, 2010.  



Colorado Trailblazer Schools to Watch program is part of a national force in middle grades education.  The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform identifies high-performing middle grades schools that are academically excellent, responsive to the developmental challenges of young adolescents, and socially equitable holding high expectations for all students.  Schools chosen are then charged with the responsibility to work with other schools around their state to raise the level of student achievement for all middle level grade students.

Sites selected as Schools to Watch exemplify the National Forum’s vision articulated in an easy-to-use, research-based assessment framework detailing practices identifiable in exemplary middle level schools. The purpose of this organization is to help Colorado middle level schools utilize the powerful Schools to Watch framework in order to maximize their own school improvement endeavors.  

The Colorado Trailblazer Schools to Watch initiative is part of the Colorado Association of Middle Level Education (CAMLE).

  • Apply to become a Colorado Trailblazer School to Watch
  • Visit the Colorado Trailblazer Schools to Watch
  • Learn more about the Forum's Framework for Exemplar School

La Junta Middle School
La Junta Middle School accepting the the "School to Watch" designation as the National School to Watch Conference in Washington, D.C.

Russell Middle School

(Above) Russell Middle School celebrates in Washington DC - Dan Joiner, Jeanice Swift-Kerr, Diane Lauer, Dr. Terry Bishop - Superintendent, Colorado Springs 11