Community Factors Description of School

Waldo Middle School is located in northwest Salem, OR.  According to ODE Waldo middle school has 756 students, which include sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. (ODE free lunch)  The school’s student population is made of many different multicultural groups with minorities accounting for 72.1% of the students...  The student population is made up of 67.1% Hispanic, 23.9% white, and 4.4% Asian/Pacific Islander, 1.9% Native American, 1.6% black, and 1.2% multi-ethnic. (ODE ethnicity)  The ODE website also loosely provides general information about the socio-economic status of the student’s families.  Of 756 students 57.8% are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

The school has an extensive staff made of math, science, language arts, social studies, physical education, and elective departments.  There is also an extensive support staff in addition to the primary teachers.  The library has two members of the staff who are the library media specialist and the library assistant.  The office staff has approximately seven members.  There are three school counselors who each focus on a specific grade.  In addition the counselors and office staff there is also a family center that provides connections with volunteers.  At Waldo there is a large population of bilingual students which results in a number of staff supporting these students.  The ELL department is staffed by seven teachers.  Another integral part of the school is the instructional assistants.  There are approximately 14 instructional assistants and the majority of this staff is made of bilingual speakers.  

          The school is square in shape and as a person enters they would immediately see the media center.  To the right and around the corner of the main entrance is the main office, teachers’ lounge, counseling office, and the family center.  The flow of people will go past the cafeteria on the right and then past the gym which are located on the east side.  There are three halls that run east to west and the “main hall” goes around the middle.  In the very center of the school is two court yards that contain trees, walking path, and a pond.  The fields and track are located on the north end of the school.  

The school has recently been remodeled so it doesn’t have a lot of character.  This recent remodel left the school with very few signs and not a lot of color on the walls, which gives the school a very sterile feeling and looking at previous pictures of the school this hasn’t always been the case.  As the school gets further into the year more things will probably go up on the walls.  This sterile environment is very prominent when you first enter the building.  The entire feel is not helped when you have to access the front door by pushing a button and waiting to enter.  I understand the safety concerns because the main office doesn’t have a visual of the front door but the setup doesn’t provide the most open inviting environment as you enter the building.  One warming aspect is the interior area of the school that is full of trees, a pond, and a walking path, which is really nice to look at as you walk the halls.  The required student dress code also gives an interesting feeling to school.  I am unfamiliar with dress codes like this in schools and it is somewhat shocking to see.

Overall I feel that the support staff and the overall makeup of the school are reassuring to me as a teacher.  I am not sure how I feel about the dress code in the school.  It makes me feel like I am at a private school teaching students.  It makes me somewhat uneasy since the one reason for the dress code is to prevent students from wearing “gang” colors and clothing.  It worries me to think about thirteen year old kids who are involved in gangs to the point it becomes a serious issue at school.  On the opposite side of this is partly makes me think that things are getting blown out of proportion and it actually isn’t a huge issue.  I can basically see the positives and negatives of it and I am not sure if I am for or against it.  As a teacher it is hard for me not to think about the dress code and the reasons for implementing it.  I cannot help but think that this aspect of the school’s culture will have some type of impact on my instructional decision making.  Whether that is positive or negative I am not sure at the moment.