Piedmont Middle School

Piedmont Middle School (PMS) is part of the Piedmont Unified School District in Piedmont, California. Background Piedmont Middle School provides education for students grades six through eight in the city. Piedmont students come from Frank C. Havens Elementary School, Wildwood Elementary School, and Egbert W. Beach Elementary School. Once they reach sixth grade, they are mixed together in the middle school, along with students from other districts who move to Piedmont. The school district of Piedmont is noted for strong academics. Location The school is located next to the joint building of Millennium High School and Piedmont High School. It overlooks Witter Field and has a view of the west side of Piedmont, of Lake Merritt and Oakland, and, when there is little fog, the Bay and San Francisco. Located on Magnolia Avenue, the middle school is opposite the Piedmont Recreation Department. Like most Piedmont schools, the middle school is in the center of town, and is only a few blocks away from Mulberry's Market, several banks, the police station, and a gas station. Campus Although the school has closed lunch, much of the campus is open to the air. The campus sprawls from its street entrance to Witter Field at the back and Piedmont High School on the right. Architecture Unlike the high school, which was originally built in a neoclassical design in the 1920s, the middle school's design is reflective of its construction in the 1970s. Piedmont Middle School is made of several buildings including the main building, which holds classrooms for core, math, social studies, English, and various electives, as well as a gymnasium ("the Buzz gym"), Food Service; the science buildings, which are lower than the main building; and the P.E./music building, which includes a gymnasium ("the Morrison gym"), locker rooms and rooms for band and orchestra. The main building has three floors, with the majority of sixth-grade classrooms on the first floor and the seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms dispersed throughout the school- which tumbles down a fairly steep hillside. Much of the school is made of concrete with fake brick layers. Only a few buildings — such as the science and P.E. buildings — are completely indoors. The main building has open hallways. Most hallways and many classroom have views of the Bay. History When Piedmont High School was created in 1921, it included grades seven through twelve, split into a junior high school and a senior high school. Piedmont Junior High School, grades seven through nine, became a separate entity from the senior high in the late 1960s, but the name change to Piedmont Middle School and switch to grades six through eight did not occur until a decade later. When the high school was demolished for safety reasons in the mid-1970s, the separate junior high building was constructed. The dedication was made on June 1, 1975. Academics In 2005, the school's API score was a 918. Ninety-eight percent of teachers are fully credentialed, and the average teaching experience is 15 years. Schedule The school runs on a block schedule, with all 7 classes on Mondays and a rotating schedule on Tuesday-Thursday and Wednesday-Friday. Core "Core" class aid in the transition from elementary to middle school. "Core" is a series of classes taught by the same teacher in the same room, much like the main teacher in elementary school. Sixth graders are taught reading, language arts and social studies by their core teacher. Seventh graders are taught language arts and social studies, but have a separate teacher for math. By eighth grade, the core system is nonexistent. Other classes not taught by core teachers including science teachers, physical education teachers, and elective teachers. Foreign language All seventh graders may begin a foreign language their second semester. Languages offered are Spanish, French, and Mandarin. If a student chooses Spanish, they take Spanish A in seventh grade and Spanish BC in eighth. These equal Spanish I in high school, and so by ninth grade they can take Spanish II. Students who do not take a foreign language in middle school, or who do not meet the minimum grade requirements to continue, start from the introductory level, such as Spanish I, when they reach high school. Physical education All students are required to take physical education for all 3 years. In sixth grade, P.E. may be taken with band/orchestra so that students take P.E. every other day and music the remaining days. In seventh and eighth grade, P.E. is an everyday class. Students are required to wear a standard Piedmont P.E. T-shirt, along with purple shorts. The uniform may be purchased from the school. Students are required to run the mile weekly, if they take full-time P.E. If they do not, which may only occur in sixth-grade, they run the mile every other week. While teacher curricula differ, sports played in P.E. including ultimate frisbee, soccer, basketball, paddle tennis, cooperative games, team handball, track and field, whiffleball, dance, archery, badminton and softball. But the best activity is the heavenly 11. In 8th grade once a semester they have to be able to run 11 laps around the track(or about 2.75 miles) in under the target time which is set at 30 minutes. Electives Many electives are offered, including but not limited to band, orchestra, foreign language (Spanish, Mandarin or French), drama, computers, ASB (Associative Student Body), Yearbook, Broadcast, and Fab Lab. These electives are available for 7th and 8th graders, with 6th graders having a wheel schedule switching through 6 electives throughout the year. Reading and Health are required electives for 7th graders, taking up an elective slot each. There are four elective slots total. Demographics In 2007, the student population was 67% white, 14% Asian, 11% two or more races, 6% Hispanic, 1% black and 1% Filipino. Zero percent of students participated in free-lunch programs, and less than 1 percent were in an English-learning program. Daily breaks Between each class a seven-minute break is offered. In addition to this, brunch is a 10-minute break (much like elementary-school "recess") in the morning, and lunch is a thirty-five-minute break. Students may purchase food from the Food Service. Its brunch menu includes milk (chocolate or plain), many kinds of cereal, fresh fruit (free), pre packaged muffins, bagels and cream cheese, and drinks like la croy and Izzy, but the menu changes everyday During lunch student will also eat free food from the lunch line, however extra lunches or snacks like Kettle Brand Potato Chips or drinks can be purchased via funds from Infinite Campus. The lunch area that student are allowed to go on campus extend the bottom of the stairs at the start to the back of the school where there is a white line at the bottom of "P.E. Hill" where the paved road branches off into the entrance of Witter Field and the Baseball Field. Students may on Wednesday and Friday Enter the MPR or Multi Purpose Room to play games like 4 square or wall ball or on some days watch a movie on the projector. There are teacher-sponsored and student-run lunch clubs, with a specific focus, as a place for students to eat inside. Library The Piedmont Middle School Library has a large variety of books for all the middle school students. They have over 10,000 books not including books for research and biographies. It also has an excellent selection of textbooks and learning materials. Students who cannot participate in other classes such as P.E. spend that time in the library and then return to their normal classes. Notable alumni Actor Clint Eastwood attended what was in the mid-1940s Piedmont Junior High School. Among Eastwood's classmates was Joseph W. "Joe" Knowland, who later became the publisher of the Oakland Tribune. See also Piedmont, California Piedmont High School References External links Piedmont Middle School Official Website Piedmont Educational Foundation