Marshall Middle School

John Marshall Middle School is a dynamic learning environment centered around caring adults and students. The school mission is to ensure academic excellence for ALL. John Marshall is the smallest comprehensive middle school in USD 259, which gives way to small class sizes resulting in better learning opportunities for our students. You are encouraged to visit our diverse and engaging setting to witness the Thunderbird experience.

In partnership with Wichita State University, John Marshall is a professional development site for pre-service teachers. This experience enhances WSU education students’ practical educational knowledge and provides an unequaled adult-student ratio.

In response to students’ needs, John Marshall is an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) center.

Staff members are committed to focusing on student academics by offering quality teaching and expecting excellence. This past year the staff was involved in over 4000 hours of staff development. The students of John Marshall receive exceptional research-based instruction on a daily basis from an experienced staff.

• Marshall has completed their bond construction efforts! Renovations and additions include air conditioning and heating, new plumbing, a new cafeteria, seven new classrooms including science classrooms, band and vocal music rooms, a bathroom and custodial closet on the third floor, classroom remodeling, and a new student support center.
• In partnership with WSU, Marshall is the original PDS middle school site.
• Every teacher has an up-to-date computer in his/her classroom, access to seventeen LCD projectors (2 to 1 ratio), and two classroom sets of wireless laptop computers.
• The student to computer ration is 4 to 1.

Exit I-135 at 13th St. Go west on 13th St. to Payne. Go north on Payne two blocks to Marshall. See Maps for all USD 259 locations.

The purpose of John Marshall Middle School is to ensure academic excellence for ALL.

Vision Statement

John Marshall Middle School will become a professional learning community where academic excellence is expected from ALL.

• Problem solving
• Reading

Each school has a site council, which is a group of parents, community members, business representatives, teachers and other school staff. Site councils identify, consider and discuss educational problems and issues at the school. Councils provide advice and counsel for evaluating state, school district and school site performance goals and objectives. Councils may also recommend methods that may be employed at the school site to meet these goals and objectives.

Meeting Day: First Monday of each month
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: John Marshall Library
Chairperson: Jeanette Mueller

• Professional Development Site (PDS) - USD 259 and the College of Education at Wichita State University partnered to develop professional development schools at selected elementary, middle and high school sites in Wichita. John Marshall is the original PDS middle school site. 
  - PDS is a field-based program where WSU pre-service teachers are placed at Marshall for the final two-years of their undergraduate education program. Housing approximately 10 pre-service teachers on a weekly basis, the Marshall PDS pre-service candidates provide a lower classroom student/teacher ratio to better accommodate the needs of our students. Through the processes of reflection, dialogue, inquiry, and collegiality, PDS pre-service teachers learn from the mentor teachers, as well as giving them new ideas, beliefs, and skills to build a community of sustained lifelong learners
• AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) - A program for the under-served students “in the middle,”  AVID seeks applicants that have a GPA between 2.0 and 3.5 who have a strong desire to attend a four-year college. These students are then placed in more demanding classes that prepare them for college and are given an additional hour of support each day in the AVID Elective class. This class provides instruction in goal setting, time management, organization, planning for college, and tutorial sessions with tutors currently in college.
• Reading Intervention Classes - Students who do not meet the state assessment cut-off scores are offered reading intervention classes throughout the year. READ 180, a Scholastic reading program, is offered to students who read two or more grade levels below in reading. EXCEL is offered to students who read one to two grades below in reading. In addition to these options ALL students are enrolled in an intervention period creating time for each student to read. This intervention period also teaches reading strategies and helps to improve comprehension through the Reading Counts program; a Scholastic reading program. Our school goal is to read 12,000 books during the 2006-2007 school year.
• Special Education Inclusion - Special education classes are taught to meet the individual needs of our students. Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students with BD, LD, ADHD, and MR needs attend Marshall. Class within a class, self-contained classes, and mainstreamed special education students needs are met in accordance with their Individual Education Plans.
• Character Education - The values of responsibility, respect, and integrity are the values emphasized in our character education program. Students are rewarded for good attendance, good behavior and good grades. Students are also rewarded for good deeds and/or community service. Using various genres of literature and content-rich materials in every subject area, students are taught accordingly. Discussions, dialogue, and stories help students incorporate values in to their daily lives.
• Conflict Resolution/Violence Prevention - The Safe and Drug Free Schools representative and the School Resource Officer facilitate classroom discussions about violence, crime, bullying, sexual harassment, and other subjects related to a safe and caring environment.
• Arts Partners - Marshall students and teachers have multiple opportunities to experience the Arts. By incorporating Art into the classroom experience, students may work with clay, paint a mural, make paper, produce a play, compose a piece of music, or apply math skills while creating tessellations, all while integrating contextual information into their knowledge base.
• Multicultural Education - Marshall has a diverse ethnic population of learners. Valuing our diverse population, we incorporate activities into all curriculum areas to celebrate our cultural backgrounds and to facilitate understanding and appreciation for one another.
• Title I - Designated as a Title I school, the Marshall school community benefits from additional Federal Funds under Title I.  Marshall has a Title I Resource Teacher that assists teachers, models lessons, promotes and teaches research-based strategies, and leads curriculum discussions throughout the year.
• Communities in Schools - Communities in Schools is a program that connects students and their families with various community and business resources throughout the city. Communities in Schools also manages Marshall’s truancy program which helps to minimize truancy and work with students who have attendance issues.
• Tutoring - Students have numerous opportunities for getting additional academic help. Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Woodland United Methodist Church, Boeing employees, Sedgwick County Extension Office, PDS interns, and numerous other businesses mentor and tutor Marshall students.
• Parent Involvement Worker - The Parent Involvement Worker helps create the necessary classroom materials that are requested by teachers and school community members. The parent involvement worker helps bridge communication needs between the school and home.
• Site Council/Booster Club - Comprised of community and faculty members, the Site Council is a community governing board. Fundraisers, the bond issue, school assessments, fifth-grade orientation, teacher appreciation, and standardized dress are just a few of the agenda items that have been discussed. All interested parties are encouraged to attend the monthly Monday meetings and give their input so that we can continue to make Marshall a continuous learning community that is cohesive, meets the standards of excellence and the needs of our diverse population.

• Celebrations - At Marshall we believe that positive reinforcement molds the beliefs of our school into our students. We encourage our students through honor roll assemblies, honor roll breakfasts, goal setting assemblies, athletic pep rallies, academic pep rallies, and good behavior dances. Students are motivated to reach their goals by wearing school-provided t-shirts and bracelets with identifying school goals. A huge Cinco de Mayo/Assessment Celebration Carnival ended our year to celebrate the hard work of our students. Marshall is an exciting place to be!
• YMCA/After School Recreation Program - Marshall students participate in an after-school recreation program that runs from Monday through Thursday 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Students first engage in an academic enrichment program for forty minutes, then spend the remaining time participating in the following activities:  physical education activities, craft making, cooking, attend a variety of clubs, and go on various fieldtrips. A late bus is provided.
• Music Programs - Students have the opportunity to participate in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade choir, band and orchestra.
• Academic League - If students like to compete and enjoy sharing their knowledge about various topics, this is for them. Working as a team, students develop their expertise and hone their competition skills in a meeting of the minds about various topics.
• Competitive Sports - Seventh- and eighth-grade boys and girls are given the opportunity to compete with other District teams in volleyball, cross-country, track and field, and basketball.