Middle School House Essay

The Holly Pond Middle School “House” program is a comprehensive school program built around positive behavioral support, teacher mentoring, teamwork, and personal and group accountability. The administration and staff at HPMS began with the vision of a school where students wanted to attend. We desired to create a place where students experienced positive relationships in a highly competitive and inclusive environment. Taking an idea straight out of the Harry Potter books led us to group all of our students into what are called houses. These houses have allowed us to have competitions school wide in everything from attendance to academics.

Throughout the school year, the faculty and administration tracks the house points, and a display screen in the hallway displays the houses’ logos with the point totals and any specific names of students that have earned or lost points for their house. Our award winning school counseling program has aligned mentor groups inside of each house. Each house has four teacher

These contests typically require that students work as a team. Small contests might be a scavenger hunt during break, whereas a whole school field day is a large contest. Every student is encouraged to participate in the contests and the contest are planned to allow for different talents and personalities to excel. We vary the games between academic, artistic and athletic type events. Each year the incoming sixth grade class is sorted along with the new students to the school, while the returning seventh and eighth graders return to their same house and mentor. The team that finishes with the highest point total for the year earns the house cup and the honors that go with it. The house cup and trophy is presented on Awards Day in front of parents and students. The houses are then photographed and the photograph is displayed in the hallway for future