Teams
The students at North Pocono Intermediate School benefit from being on “teams,” which allows them to be served by a group of teachers dedicated to their particular student group for core subject classes. There are five teams at each of the grade levels. This means that intermediate school students, instead of being scheduled as if they attend a school with 450 students and 20+ core subject teachers, are scheduled as if they attend one of ten small schools, each with only 45 students and two core subject teachers. Students on a team go to only the teachers on their team for their core subjects. The research suggests that the smaller a school and the smaller the classes, the better the probability of good instruction and successful students. By teaming, we create “schools within a school”, and therefore create a “smaller” school environment. Each team has 50 students or less. This means that a student experiences this school of over 450 students as if he/she were in a school of about 45 students.
The advantage of this model is that students on a team have the same ELA, math, social studies, and science teacher. When these teachers collaborate, it ensures that every students gets the attention needed to succeed. The teachers can discuss individual students, compare notes on the effectiveness of various educational strategies, analyze data, and target students' needs for remediation and enrichment.