Northside Middle School (Norfolk, Virginia)
Encyclopedia
Northside Middle School is an American
public
school, located in the community of Ocean View in the city of Norfolk
, Virginia
. It teaches grades six through eight. After completing grade eight, most students go to Granby High School
, which is outside of Ocean View, but still inside Norfolk.
As with other Norfolk Public Schools, there is a statistical approach to improving education at Northside, with a heavy emphasis on test scores. The approach has shown some success in improving test scores, but is sometimes criticized by those who feels it doesn't help a child's overall education.
specialist works with children with learning disabilities, who make up roughly 13% of the overall student population. Roughly four percent of the children are designated as gifted.
(the largest estuary
in the U.S) and its watershed
of 64000 square miles (165,759.2 km²).
Components of the program include:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
public
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
school, located in the community of Ocean View in the city of Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. It teaches grades six through eight. After completing grade eight, most students go to Granby High School
Granby High School
Granby High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Norfolk, Virginia. The high school is part of the Norfolk Public Schools system. It is the only high school in the school division that offers an International Baccalaureate program...
, which is outside of Ocean View, but still inside Norfolk.
As with other Norfolk Public Schools, there is a statistical approach to improving education at Northside, with a heavy emphasis on test scores. The approach has shown some success in improving test scores, but is sometimes criticized by those who feels it doesn't help a child's overall education.
Special programs
A special educationSpecial education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
specialist works with children with learning disabilities, who make up roughly 13% of the overall student population. Roughly four percent of the children are designated as gifted.
Maritime Studies Pathway
Norfolk Public School's Maritime Studies Pathway is a special program for only three schools in the district: Ocean View Elementary School, Northside Middle School, and Granby High School. The environmental education content is concentrated on the Chesapeake BayChesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
(the largest estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
in the U.S) and its watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of 64000 square miles (165,759.2 km²).
Components of the program include:
- Aqualab - A lab with where students directly handle live marine animals.
- The Chesapeake Bay Student Conference - Annual chance for students to share knowledge of the Bay with community members and other students.
- Field trips - Day and overnight troops to area of interest.
- GardeningGardeningGardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
- Learning through the school's courtyard garden. - HydroponicsHydroponicsHydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wool, or coconut husk.Researchers discovered in the 18th...
- Indoor gardening by students. - OysterOysterThe word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
restoration - About four oyster floats are monitored, to place healthy one year olds on an artificial oyster reef. - ShadShadThe shads or river herrings comprise the genus Alosa, fish related to herring in the family Clupeidae. They are distinct from others in that family by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. The several species frequent different areas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea....
restoration - Part of program where 1000 baby shad are brought to Northside each spring. The fry are studied, monitored, fed, and released by students. - StreamStreamA stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
monitoring - Monitoring for pollution and other factors. - Composting - Promotes recycling from cafeteria food.
External links
- Norfolk Public Schools
- Success in the City: A once troubled urban school system is lauded for blazing a new path to academic progress (October 3, 2005) - Article in U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
, which mainly discusses board but also mentions this particular school. - Students Having Fun While Using Aquaponics to Learn About Their Environment - Article in Aquaponics Journal which mentions students in the school (note: article has error in some instances of school name and type of school).