Principal's Message
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! As we look forward to the upcoming school year, I wanted to share a little about the vision and mission of Morton Middle School. Our vision at Morton is "Giving Wings to Dreams...We are Aviators!" Our mission statement is "Morton Middle School is a respectful, responsible, and resourceful community that prepares students for life-long learning."
At Morton, we strive to be a positive learning environment where all students can experience academic, behavioral, and social growth. The structure used to create this environment is based upon the principles of Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS). PBIS is a proactive approach to school discipline based upon research-based practices and data analysis of school-wide behavior. The goal is to maximize academic and social behavior outcomes from students, while supporting the success of ALL students.
Our mission statement reflects the Aviator Expectations that we have put in place for our students to follow at all times-Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Resourceful. These Behavioral Expectations are one of the five principle components that contribute to making our school a positive place for students. Those elements include:
- Behavior Expectations
- Teaching Behavior
- Celebrating Positive Behavior
- Responding to Behavior
- Use of Data
As we move into the 2023-2024 school year, we plan to continue to highlight the positives that we see on a daily basis from our students. Students will continue to have Flight Passes in their agenda books, which staff members sign regularly when they witness students displaying the Aviator Expectations. Students will be able to earn short-term and long-term incentives with these Flight Pass Signatures. In addition, we will continue to recognize outstanding academics, attendance, and behavior through our Awards Assemblies, Aviators of the Month, Aviator Ace awards, and membership in the National Junior Honor Society.
In order to support our efforts to enhance students’ opportunities for life-long learning and character development, we will also continue with our Advisory Program. Throughout students’ time at Morton, they will stay with the same Advisory teacher, who will continue to foster positive relationships, create team-building opportunities, and explore important topics for young adults during the Advisory period once a week.
This year, we will provide our 7th graders with the powerful Re-Do Day experience where the focus is on what it means to be a young man or a young lady, the impact of bullying, and the importance of empathy and inclusion. I encourage your child to become involved with any of the many clubs and activities that we have in place here at Morton. These clubs provide extra opportunities for students to not only learn and explore, but also to build additional positive peer relationships.
To share a little about myself, this is my 32nd year in education, all of which have taken place in the Vandalia-Butler School system. I have been a part of the Morton, Smith, and Butler staffs, in the roles of teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal. We live in the community, and my two boys are also a part of the Vandalia-Butler school system. Therefore, I have also been able to see firsthand, as a parent, the quality education that my own children are receiving. Finally, my husband, Andy, coaches cross country and track for Vandalia-Butler. As you can see, we are greatly invested in the community and in the schools.
I encourage you to take an active part in your child’s education. Whether you are providing quiet study time, conferencing with a teacher, or attending your child’s sporting event or concert, we greatly appreciate and encourage the partnership between school and home. In addition, we have an excellent PTO here at Morton with many opportunities for you to volunteer. Middle school is still a very important time to be involved and aware of your child’s schooling, interests, and activities.
Please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the staff here at Morton with any comments, questions, or concerns. We want your child’s experience at Morton Middle School to be a great one, and if there is anything that we can do to help make that happen, please let us know. You can reach me at (937) 415-6647 or Shannon.white@vbcsd.com.
Sincerely,
Shannon White
Principal
Morton Middle School