Principal's Welcome

Welcome to the 2026-2027 school year! At Morton Middle School, we pride ourselves in providing a quality, well-rounded education with high expectations and a supportive environment where students can grow and thrive. We strive to provide a positive learning environment where all students can experience academic, behavioral, and social growth. 

At Morton, our mission statement reflects the Aviator Expectations of the Vandalia-Butler School District-Morton Mid-dle School is a respectful, responsible, and resourceful community that prepares students for lifelong learning. These behavioral expectations (Respectful, Responsible, and Resourceful) contribute to our goal of making our school a positive and productive place for students. 

In order to enhance students’ opportunities for life-long learning and character development, we will continue with our Advisory Program. Throughout a students’ years at Morton, they will stay with the same Advisory teacher. The Ad-visory period serves as a brief morning check-in each morning. Once a month, during extended Advisory period, the teacher may provide team-building opportunities and explore important topics for young adults. 

We strongly encourage all of our students to get involved in order to get the most out of their middle school years. Along with our athletic teams, we also offer a wide variety of club offerings. Being involved can also include taking part in school activities, such as our Spirit Weeks, our “Dude. Be Kind.” initiatives, food drives, service activities, etc. These various activities provide opportunities to meet other students with similar interests, to help others, and to be a part of the Morton community. 

To share a little about myself, this is my 35th year in education (21st as a middle school principal), all of which have taken place in the Vandalia-Butler School system. During this time, I have been a part of the staff at Morton, Smith, and Butler, in the roles of teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal. We live in the Vandalia-Butler commu-nity, and my two boys are Vandalia-Butler graduates. Therefore, I have been able to see firsthand, as a parent, the quality education and opportunities that my own children have received. 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, confer-encing 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 an important time to be involved and aware of your child’s schooling, inter-ests, 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 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