A message from Principal Lisa Hankinson:
Former Superintendent Tim O. Mains, who passed away in December of 2021, would be proud to see his vision for personalized learning come to fruition for the students and staff at Circleville Middle School. Superintendent Mains was passionate about infusing this philosophy of teaching and learning as part of his collaborative PBCSD Strategic Plan to ensure success for each individual student. One of our identified goals was to, “Develop instructional methods and materials that create differentiated paths, pace and performance tasks for students which is what personalized learning is all about.”
Have a look at the Personalized Learning Initiative for CVMS.
When our team first began planning for the rollout of the personalized learning initiative, I was reminded of the powerful quote by author John Steinbeck: “When I face the desolate impossibility of writing 500 pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day’s work is all that I can permit myself to contemplate.” Beginning a new school year with a major initiative at times felt like facing 500 blank pages.
The reason for our success rests solely on our amazing personalized learning team, our PL ambassadors, comprised of:
- Shelby Jakaitis – ENL teacher, grades 6-8
- Robin Renahan – library media specialist
- Lahna Greene – special education teacher and Aquila Academy leader
- Cara Murray – grade 6 math and ELA teacher
- Nicole Halabuda – grade 8 ELA teacher
These ambassadors play a crucial role in sustaining relevance, customization and recurring personalized learning experiences for our students and staff members.
At CVMS, together, we share celebrations, challenges and huge success with personalized learning as we continue to write our story one page (and one day) at a time. We are thrilled to share our story with all of you as Education Elements, the consulting corporation for this rollout, recognized us for our hard work and dedication to this endeavor that demonstrates what is best for our students in a case study recently published.