Spotlight on an Odds-Beater: Fostering Mutual Respect and Independence at Maple Grove

By Catherine Kramer, Research Assistant for NYKids (Edited by Kristen C. Wilcox, Director NYKids)

Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School is part of the Bemus Point Central School District located in western New York.

The Challenge:

Like other rural districts in the region, Bemus Point is experiencing significant demographic changes including declining enrollments (from 900 to under 700 students between 2004 and 2018).

During this same period, the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch (a poverty indicator) increased from around 10% in 2010 to over 30% in the late 2010’s.

Maple Grove excels at serving students who are economically disadvantaged by embracing the following strategies:

Fostering Mutual Respect

Maple Grove educators emphasize the importance of listening to staff, students, and family members with mutual respect; encouraging students to be persistent in achieving ambitious goals; and collaborating with a variety of community members to support student success. Strong and positive relationships between school staff and members of the community are rooted in openness to alternative perspectives. Inside the school walls, leaders point to how they value teachers supporting each other’s professional development and working as a team with one another as well as students.

Focusing on Soft Skills

A “soft skills” curriculum for middle school students was co-developed by guidance counselors, health teachers, and family and consumer science teachers to help middle school students adjust as they journey through secondary school and in to the workforce or college. The curriculum emphasizes developing skills such as note taking, strategies for dealing with stress and maintaining good sleeping habits as well as how to deal with issues such as death and dying. The work started in middle school provides a foundation that is built upon at the high school level.

Educators at Maple Grove explained that development of these soft skills helps to prepare students to work independently and to be productive citizens.

Read more about Maple Grove in the Maple Grove Junior/Senior High School case study.