College and career readiness

• In 6th grade, students embrace an exploratory curriculum in an Elective Wheel. Students rotate through nine-week introductory course to gain exposure to a variety of topics. The current Elective Wheel includes Intro to MakerSpace, Wellness, Intro to World Cultures, and Drama.

• The mission of AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society. Gardiner Middle School utilizes AVID principles throughout the entire school

• Gardiner offers an AVID elective course at each grade level. For one period a day, students receive the additional academic, social, and emotional support that will help them succeed in their school’s most rigorous courses.

• The AVID elective continues through middle school and high school. If you are interested in learning more about the program, please contact our Co-Coordinators, Mrs. McComick and Mrs. Tebon.

• 6th graders begin creating their middle school portfolio on a Google Site in order to capture current thinking, display impressive work, reflect on their own growth, and embrace a core value of an ethic of excellence.

.• Before finishing the year, each 6th grader must successfully complete a Student-Led Conference, utilizing their portfolio to reflect upon the year and communicate with an important adult.

• In 7th grade, students begin to dive deeper into their own interests and forecast into electives like Woodshop, Art, Design, Intro to Film Studies, Arts & Crafts, Band, Choir, Spanish (as a world language), Yearbook, and more.

• The mission of AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society. Gardiner Middle School utilizes AVID principles throughout the entire school

• Gardiner offers an AVID elective course at each grade level. For one period a day, students receive the additional academic, social, and emotional support that will help them succeed in their school’s most rigorous courses.

• The AVID elective continues through middle school and high school. If you are interested in learning more about the program, please contact our Co-Coordinators, Mrs. McComick and Mrs. Tebon.

• 7th graders continue adding to their middle school portfolio on a Google Site in order to capture current thinking, display impressive work, reflect on their own growth, and embrace a core value of an ethic of excellence.

.• Before finishing the year, each 7th grader must successfully complete a Student-Led Conference, utilizing their portfolio to reflect upon the year and communicate with an important adult.

• In 8th grade, students continue to explore their interests and forecast into electives like Woodshop, Art, Design, Intro to Film Studies, Arts & Crafts, Band, Choir, Spanish (as a world language), Yearbook, and more.

• The mission of AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society. Gardiner Middle School utilizes AVID principles throughout the entire school

• Gardiner offers an AVID elective course at each grade level. For one period a day, students receive the additional academic, social, and emotional support that will help them succeed in their school’s most rigorous courses.

• The AVID elective continues through middle school and high school. If you are interested in learning more about the program, please contact our Co-Coordinators, Mrs. McComick and Mrs. Tebon.

• 8th graders receive information about the career pathways offered at OCHS, and begin thinking about what direction they might want to head in high school.

• 8th graders finalize their middle school portfolio on a Google Site in order to capture current thinking, display impressive work, reflect on their own growth, and embrace a core value of an ethic of excellence.

• Before leaving Gardiner Middle School, each 8th grader must successfully complete a Passage Presentation, communicating their growth over their three years of middle school and their readiness for high school. While similar to the Student-Led Conferences the past two years, the Passage Presentation is done before a panel of community members and district leaders and requires the student to demonstrate their high school readiness.

• Gardiner’s daily announcements include a career focus each week.

• Every year in Semester 2, Gardiner holds a weeklong College and Career week where Advisory classes collaborate to research about a college or career and create a display.

• One day of the annual College and Career week includes Career Speaker Day, when students have the opportunity to hear from multiple guest speakers about careers that interest them!

• All students create an account in Naviance and begin a career exploration process that they will continue throughout high school (students log in to Naviance through Classlink)