Batavia Middle School

(Submitted photo of Ashley John Grillo.)

Press release:

After an extensive search that attracted nearly 40 qualified candidates, the Batavia City School District is pleased to announce that Mr. Ashley John Grillo has accepted the position as principal for Batavia Middle School, and will replace current principal Sandy Griffin who is retiring. Grillo will begin on July 1.

“When I saw the posting, and saw that the job was in Batavia, where I had enjoyed living for a few years, and for a position at the Middle School, which is a student population that I love working with, I knew I had to look at this opportunity,” he explained to staff, students, and parents who attended one of the two Meet & Greet sessions held at the Middle School for the final pair of job candidates.

A Holley native, Grillo earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the Rochester Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Education from Nazareth College of Rochester, and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration from SUNY Brockport.

He began his career in his hometown, teaching middle school science for seven years, then working as a “teacher on special assignment” for two years at Holley’s Middle School/High School. For the past four years, he has been the assistant principal at their elementary school.

Describing his core values, Grillo said he is dedicated to: collaboration and teamwork for building a dynamic learning environment; using data to inform and evaluate decisions; maintaining high standards for staff and students in setting expectations and achieving goals; and to equality as it applies to respecting diversity and providing opportunities for all learners to reach their potential.

During the meeting, in addition to emphasizing that he particularly enjoys working with the middle school age group, Grillo noted that the student demographics in Holley and Batavia are similar. He believes his extensive work and commitment to PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), his familiarity with, as well as his commitment to collaboration and excellence combine to make a very good fit with the needs and vision for Batavia Middle School.

Press release:

After a rigorous interview process that involved constituents from all aspects of the Batavia Middle School community -- including teachers, parents and clerical, custodial and administrative staff -- the search for a new principal is down to two finalists. BMS staff, students, families and interested community members are invited to attend two “Meet and Greet” sessions to learn more about these final candidates.

• At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9, Mrs. Linda Dickey, will be at Batavia Middle School. She is currently the Ithaca City School District associate middle school principal;
• At 3 p.m. on Thursday March 10, Mr. Ashley John Grillo, will be here. He is currently Holley Central School District elementary assistant principal.

Both sessions will be at BMS, 96 Ross St., in the cafeteria. Refreshments will be provided.

Applications for the position of BMS principal closed on Monday, Jan. 18, and the District received 38 diverse and impressive applications. From those, 15 applicants were invited to a phone screening interview, then eight met with a constituent committee comprised of BMS parents, teachers, staff and administrators in late February. A few final candidates met with a District interview committee before these Meet and Greet sessions were scheduled with the final two candidates. A decision and Board approval is anticipated on March 15.

Press release:

It’s been a long time coming, but Superintendent of Schools Christopher Dailey received a letter from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) stating that, once the State makes its official review visit in the early part of March, the District and Batavia Middle School will be off of the NYSED District/Focus School list in 2016-2017. Middle School staff were invited to a brief meeting Friday morning for the announcement.

“We wanted you to be the first to know,” Dailey said. “Even though this was always viewed as a district-wide process, most of the efforts were concentrated here, and we appreciate all your hard work. So, thank you, and congratulations.”

The process began several years ago, going into the 2012-2013 school year, when the District was notified that it had not met New York State’s proficiency benchmarks for one subgroup of students and, as a result, had been identified as a Focus District that was required to choose at least one school on which to focus efforts toward improvement for this subgroup. Because the Middle School had the greatest number of students in the specified subgroup, it was named as the Focus School.

The District then assembled a school improvement committee which, from that point forward, reviewed data, recommendations, and survey input to develop annual school improvement plans built around six tenets identified by NYSED’s Diagnostic Tool for School and District Effectiveness as aligning with research-based proven practices of effective schools: 1) District Leadership and Capacity, 2) School Leader Practices and Decisions, 3) Curriculum Development and Support, 4) Teacher Practices and Decisions, 5) Student Social and Emotional Developmental Health, and 6) Family and Community Engagement.

The criteria for being removed from the list included (1) meeting State participation requirements for all accountability groups for ELA and math; (2) meeting State achievement goals for the specified subgroup for two consecutive years; (3) meeting State achievement goals for averaged scores of all students in grades 3-12 for two consecutive years; and (4) having no subgroup fall below the minimum State achievement benchmarks during that time period.

Batavia Middle School Principal Sandy Griffin, noting several positive outcomes not numerically measurable, said “Our faculty has increased collaboration and the use of data to inform decision making. They have a deeper understanding of the Common Core Learning Standards and have been more actively involved in writing curriculum.

"Throughout the building – faculty, students, and staff – have a renewed commitment to and enthusiasm for the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) initiatives and to working as a team to create the best environment for learning and growing.”

Says Dailey, “This is a tremendous accomplishment by the administrators and staff of the Middle School and District. Together we have created a community of learners that pushes themselves to improve each day. We have taken a very positive approach to improvement that has paid off by our change in status with NYSED.”

UPDATE Feb. 29: Following a reader's inquiry about which subgroup triggered the inclusion on the focus list, we contacted the school district. We were told that:

"In the 2010-2011 school year, the Middle School missed the State Performance Index (PI) by 4 points with the African-American subgroup."

Batavia Middle School is hosting a Family & Community Night from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19. This year's theme is "Warm the Night" and FREE hats, mittens and scarves will be distrubuted.

Enjoy a FREE light supper of soup and bread with Timbits and coffee, courtesy of Tim Horton's.

There will also be a FREE bicycle raffle and you'll also receive a FREE basket raffle ticket at the door -- one raffle ticket for EVERY family member!

Prepare to be dazzled by a FREE laser light show!

Plus, the Batavia Police Department will be on hand to license bikes in the gym and give you a coupon for a FREE bike helmet from Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle.

Gain insight into the opportunities to learn how to support your child this year and help our students succeed. See you there!

It was a full house at Batavia Middle School on Thursday night for the school's open house.

Above, the Houseknecht family, Mike, Jen and Ella, share a laugh with Ella's sixth-grade math teacher, Andy Reagan.

Being the first full day of school, the teachers of Batavia Middle School wrote messages in chalk on sidewalks for students to read when they left today. 

Most seemed to take a little time to read the messages from their teachers. 

Pictured above, Louis thought this was a good way to end the first day of school.

Miss Newton and Mr. Ferri write their message to the students.

Jason poses with his favorite message.

Tatyanna is seen with the message she like the most. 

Lilly, Allyson and Lillian like this one.

 Ms. Cervoni shows Brandon the message she wrote.

Fifth-grade students at Batavia Middle School completed a 10-week course of study today into various worldwide leaders in human rights. The course culminated with each student dressing as their chosen leader and making a presentation for parents who attended the event in the school's library. The students were required to read a book, research a Web site and a database on their chosen leader. They also drew posters of the leaders.

Above, Betty Cherry as Maya Angelou.

Allyson Clemm as Julia Ward Howe.

Roger Jones as Booker T. Washington.

Molly Barker, who founded Girls on the Run in 1996 in her hometown of Charlotte, N.C., visited Batavia Middle School today to meet with the local members of the after-school girls activity and charity group.  

The girls won the visit after beating out 87 other schools in a contest to collect the most donated used shoes for people in need.

Previously:

• 'Girls on the Run' program at Batavia Middle School aims to have positive impact on community

• Batavia Middle School students tops in shoe drive

Students at Batavia Middle School beat out 87 schools in a shoe drive as part of the Girls on the Run program.

The girls collected 1,220 donated pairs of shoes.

As a result of the big win, Molly Barker, founder of Girls on the Run, will visit Batavia Middle School at a future date.

"We wanted to put a thank you out there to the community for all of their support," said teacher Sarah Gahagan. "We had over 90 Batavia families donate to this cause. Just goes to show how when a community pitches in great things can happen."

Photos and info submitted by Sarah Gahagan.

Girls on the Run, a group of students at Batavia Middle School, are holding a shoe drive as one of their charitable projects in the community. 

Teacher Sarah Gahagan, along with a friend, introduced Girls on the Run to the middle school and is looking to spread the word about the program. They're looking for a community project that the girls can take on.

"This is solely based on what the girls want to do in order for them to feel a sense of ownership and empowerment as they work toward their goal," Gahagan said.

The 12-week program culminates in a 5K in Buffalo.

"The girls set running goals every week in order to gear up for the final event," Gahagan said. "Each girl will cross the finish line with one of their coaches, a parent or a running buddy that they have asked to run with them from the school."

Gahagan described the program as a physical-activity-based youth-development program designed to inspire girls in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades to be joyful, healthy and confident.

In the photo, starting with the front row on the left: Sarah Gahagan, Breeann Wilcox, Juliana Branche, Tiffany Brown, Courtney Lougheed, Aliza Green, Riley Macdonough, Destiny Griffin, Andrea Merchant, Meghan Houseknect, Madison Dedman and Lindsey Mathis.

There was a big turnout for the Mexican-themed Family Night at Batavia Middle School, which featured a Mexican food feast (until the tacos ran out), crafts around Mexican themes, along with a raffle (prizes donated by local businesses) and community group booths and activities.

Batavia Middle School students took time today to give back to the community that has given all year long to them.  They delivered holiday cards, paper snowflakes and snowman soup to local businesses and charitable organizations.

The students spent the first hour or so of the school day preparing the packages for delivery and then a small group of them got on a school bus and drove around the city delivering holiday cheer.

It's the first time the school has taken on such a project said 7th and 8th Grade Assistant Principal Maureen Notaro, who came up with the idea.

"We wanted to give back to some of the community agencies that give so much to us every day," Notaro said.

Student Genevieve Cutro said she hoped the event would spread a little holiday cheer.

"I like helping people very much," she said. "It's good for making people more happy."

Press release:

Students in grades six through eight, who are new to Batavia Middle School, or transferring from a private or parochial school, are invited to attend an Orientation program on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 9 a.m. in the Middle School Auditorium. The program will include an overview of our Middle School and will be followed by a building tour. School counselors will be available for students and parents.

There's also this:

On Thursday, Sept. 5, Batavia Middle School will be holding their Orientation Day for fifth-grade students. Students will be participating in the “Connect Day” program throughout the day.

Fifth graders will spend the morning participating in team building activities, finding their lockers and meeting their teachers. During the afternoon, students will be experiencing traveling to their classes and meeting their counselors.

Fifth-grade students need to arrive to school by 8 a.m. and will report to homeroom by 8:07. All students will be dismissed at 2:45 pm.  

Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students will not report on Sept. 5. The first day of school for all Middle School students (grades five through eight) will be Friday, Sept. 6.

The BMS “Connect Day’s” purpose is to help fifth-graders feel more comfortable as well as help them achieve success in their first year at the Middle School. The program is designed to both welcome and support the fifth-graders by assigning them a Mentor (an eighth-grade student who has met the qualifications of being a good role model and a positive leader). Along with supporting House students, the “Connect Day” program helps Mentors develop leadership skills, responsibility and team work as they begin their transition process to the High School.

Anyone with questions is asked to contact Miss Rogers, fifth- and sixth-grade House Administrator, 343-2480, ext. 3001, or Mr. Eric Knapp, Interventions Counselor, 343-2480, ext. 3002.

The BB-gun incident at Batavia Middle School yesterday, as first reported by The Batavian, is apparently getting wider media attention.

A Rochester TV news van was reportedly parked illegally on Ross Street a few minutes ago.

And, just now, Batavia PD released the following statement to all regional media:

The Batavia Police and Batavia School officials are jointly investigating the details of a student bringing a BB Gun into the Batavia Middle School. As part of the investigation it has been determined that at no time was the BB gun displayed or any threats made. School officials discovered the gun based on an unrelated incident. Both the School and the Police Department will use the proper procedures to ensure all are safe and the person responsible is dealt with in accordance with the proper procedure in place for juveniles who violate school rules and New York State laws.  

Parents in the Batavia City School District were informed tonight that a student at Batavia Middle School is being disciplined for bringing a BB gun to school.

It wasn't a rifle, it wasn't a handgun, it was a BB gun a student had a in backpack in his locker, Superintendent Christopher Dailey emphasized in an interview tonight.

"He didn't think it would be anything to worry about," Dailey said. "Unfortunately for him, it was a really bad choice. He didn't have it at school to hurt anyone or defend himself. He wanted to play with it after school. It was a random poor choice by a kid."

The search was initiated, Daily said, because school officials suspected the student may have brought tobacco to school.

The "random poor choice" by the student had landed the kid in Family Court, according to Batavia Police Chief Shawn Heubusch.

Heubusch confirmed tonight that school officials turned over to police a BB gun that was located in a student locker.

"Batavia school officials should be praised for their quick response to this incident," Heubusch said.

Dailey said school officials take issues like this seriously and his automated phone call tonight was aimed at keeping parents informed and designed to quell rumors about it possibly being a more serious matter.

"I felt it important to share because we don't have anything to hide," Dailey said.

In his message, Daily said, "Having a BB gun on school grounds is against district policy. The BB gun was turned over immediately to the Batavia City Police. The student was removed and will be held accountable according to our district code of conduct."

Upcoming fifth- and sixth-graders and their families got to see their new school, meet their new teachers, and connect with their peer mentors at Batavia Middle School's open house on Thursday.

What is a peer mentor, you ask? Well, here are a few:

Paige Hameister, Brianna Ball and Madison Mitchell are part of a team of more than 50 eighth-graders whose task it will be to welcome, support and serve as role models for their younger classmates throughout the 2012-2013 school year.

Their mentorship is part of "BMS Connects," an orientation program that was started in 2009 to welcome sixth-graders to the Middle School. This year, the program has been expanded to welcome both fifth- and sixth-graders in the wake of the school district consolidation.

According to a press release from the Batavia City School District, the purpose of "BMS Connects" is "to help fifth- and sixth-grade students feel more comfortable as well as help them achieve success in their first year at the Middle School."

Wednesday, Sept. 5, will be "Connect Day," a day of activities for fifth- and sixth-graders. It will follow a regular school day schedule. Students will come in at 8 a.m. (reporting to their homerooms by 8:07) and leave at 2:45 p.m.

The day will include team building activities involving Cain's Taekwondo, the City of Batavia Youth Bureau, the eighth-grade mentors and all BMS staff.

Fifth-graders will have their activities in the morning, sixth-graders in the afternoon.

Prior to the activities, the sixth-graders will get to know the school, go over their class schedules, travel around to their various classrooms, find their lockers and meet their teachers.

After morning activities, the fifth-graders will spend time getting to know their homeroom teachers (fifth-grade classes will retain the traditional elementary school model of one classroom, or "homeroom," throughout the day, broken up at intervals by "special" classes like art, music and physical education) and exploring such topics as Internet safety and "Q & A" about BMS.

The first day of school for all BMS students, grades five through eight, will be on Thursday.

A change of scene for kids and teachers

A yearly occurrence, "BMS Connects" takes on a special significance because of this year's transition. It is part of a larger process involving dedicated staff and students collaborating to welcome not only more new students than usual, but also a new batch of teachers.

Lynn Matteo is one of the fifth-grade teachers moving up to BMS (in her case, from Robert Morris School). She is pictured up top interacting with her new students and their families.

Here is a sampling of the fifth-grade teachers and aides who are "moving on up" with their students:

Pictured front row, from left: Kelly Mallaber, Shirley Boyd, Lori Easton-Penepent, Beth DeFreze, Christa Palmer, Deborah Murray, Karen Cima and Laura Kaczmarek. Back row, from left: Matteo, Charlene Barrett, Debbie Caruso, Richard Peek, Nathan Moore and Andrew Reagan.

Julia Rogers, who stepped into her new role as house administrator for fifth- and sixth-grades on July 1, talked about the large amount of effort everyone has put into making sure that the kids and their teachers enjoy as smooth, comfortable and welcoming a transition as possible.

"(The work) started last year when everyone knew about the consolidation," Rogers said. "(BMS Principal) Sandra Griffin and Tim McArdle, our assistant principal, worked tirelessly with the school district administrators to get this rolling."

She credits Interventions counselor Eric Knapp with being the "huge organizer" behind this year's "Connect Day" program.

"He is very multi-talented," she said. "He's done this in the past, but this time he's coordinating two different programs for two different groups of students on the same day."

That said, she also stressed that this whole process has been a team effort building-wide and district-wide, from the top administrators to the BMS custodial staff who had the fifth-grade classrooms ready for the teachers by mid-August.

"The teachers and support staff have really embraced this."

Fifth-grade staff members shared their perspectives on the transition as well.

"So far it's gone very well," Matteo said, "because everyone here is very warm and welcoming. They have made us feel right at home."

Shirley Boyd, formerly an aide at Jackson School, said the experience has been very exciting.

"You have to be willing to welcome change," she said, "and they (BMS staff and other fifth-grade staff) are doing that."

Mentors, models, friends

As is the case every year, the eighth-grade mentors have embraced their role with enthusiasm as well.

"It really is a big honor," mentor McKenna Dziemian said. "You have a lot of respect on your shoulders, but it's a huge responsibility as well."

"BMS Connects" is designed to benefit the mentors as well as the mentored. According to the district's press release, "the 'Connect Day' program helps mentors develop leadership skills, responsibility and team work as they begin their transition process to the high school."

Dajah Williams and Jhensy Etienne, both eighth-grade mentors, said that they were prepared for their task through training that included:

• "trust exercises" in which one person would stand on a desk and fall backward, and a partner would have to catch him/her;
• a "scavenger hunt" to find the new students' classrooms; and
• an exploration of the "middle dchool mindset" (positive and negative attitudes, etc).

Mentors will be assigned to individual fifth- and sixth-grade homerooms, and they will spend all of Wednesday with their charges. They, as well as staff, will help to answer students' questions and orientate them to the middle school.

According to Rogers, the mentors will be involved with their younger peers to varying degrees throughout the school year. For example, they might assist with activities in fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms, or a mentor might be "called upon if a child needs a friend or support."

"The big thing is that the fifth- and sixth-grade students will see faces they know (when the school year officially starts)."

High expectations are set for all of the mentors. As role models, they are expected to keep their grades up and model good behavior throughout the year.

Excitement for a new beginning

Rogers said that Thursday's open house, which included separate sessions for fifth-graders and sixth-graders, went very well.

"The students are really excited," she said. "I've noticed that most of their questions are focused on who their teachers will be."

Any families who were not able to attend the open house can access the House Student Handbook and Thursday's PowerPoint presentations by visiting the BMS 5/6 House Web page.

Batavia City School District officials are trying to use the posting of a video on Facebook of two middle school girls fighting as a "teachable moment," according to Deputy Superintendent Christopher Dailey.

He met with reporters from area TV stations Friday afternoon to answer questions.

Dailey admitted there were things he would rather do on his Friday afternoon than meet with the media over a little dust-up involving student conduct, but was hopeful that lessons can be learned from the incident.

"It's a teachable moment about what not to do on Facebook," Dailey said. "Unfortunately, in this day and age when something is out there online, it doesn't go away, even though we acted very quickly to get it removed.

"There is the potential for ongoing (problems). We don't want anything out there to come back and harm kids later on."

Getting the "Batavia Fights" page removed from Facebook was a combined effort involving the school district, Batavia PD, along with the cooperation of the parents of the child who created the page and the staff at Facebook, Dailey said.

"In this case, somebody let us know last night (about the video)," Dailey said. "Even if we hadn't learned about it last night, we would have found out about it today. We have wonderful kids in Batavia. We have kids who really care about their community."

There is a constant effort in the schools, Dailey said, to educate children about the pitfalls of online behavior.

"It's a new media and we try to teach them the right way to handle it," Dailey said.

The district is still investigating the incident and officials have yet to determine if the fight was staged for the benefit of a video camera or if it was a spontaneous fight.

Two middle school girls were involved in the fight and they suffered minor bumps and scrapes, according to Dailey.

At this time, officials don't believe the fight was related to any specific ongoing bullying issue, but officials were concerned that if the video stayed on Facebook, it might lead to harassment and bullying.

The fight occurred just after dismissal at the middle school, Dailey said, and in the 26th second of the video, a teacher at the school is seen arriving and intervening.

"Facebook is a blessing and a curse," Dailey said. "I used it for the reunion of my high school class and it was wonderful. When not used correctly, it can be hard for kids to handle."

The video was captured by WBTA's Geoff Redick before it was removed. The version below was altered by Redick to obscure the faces of the youngsters involved.

Tanner Kolb is 12 years old, a sixth-grader at Batavia Middle School, and is officially an alumni of the Junior National Young Leaders Conference (JrNYLC). Tanner was nominated by her fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Brown at John Kennedy School, to participate in the annual event held at our nation's capital, and made the journey Oct. 8 -13.

The JrNYLC is designed for high-achieving middle-school students, and offers these students "the opportunity to learn about leadership by studying the leaders of the past and by focusing on social advocacy to make a positive impact in their homes and communities." (http://www.cylc.org/jrnylc/JrNYLC_about.cfm)

Tuesday night, Tanner was excited to share her experiences. She said her favorite place she visited was Harper's Ferry, where she participated in a Civil War era battle reenactment. She met and made friends with students from not just across the continental 48 states, but places like New Zealand, Guam, Germany and Hawaii, and now has herself some pen pals.

When asked what lessons she learned from her experience, Tanner told me "Anyone can be a leader, if they're willing to work for it. Leaders are not born that way, they have to work for it." I asked what message she would like to send to other students who might be able to earn a nomination to participate. Her response was simply, "I'd tell them go for it. Definitely go for it."

She was written a thank-you letter to all her supporters, whose fundraisers made the trip possible. Afterall, going to D.C. can be pricey.

Here's her thank-you letter in full:

"I would like to personally thank everyone who donated pop cans, bought something from one of my fundraisers, or donated money to help me go on my trip to Washington, D.C. I had tons of fun and went to lots of interesting places.

I went to Harper's Ferry, an old Civil War town where we reenacted a battle. We went to lots of memorials, like the Lincoln, the Martin Luther King Jr., the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and many other places such as the Capitol building, the White House, and the Museum of American History. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, and Buca di Beppo restaurant.

I made lots of new friends from all around the world and I still talk to them a lot.  We also had a sleepover at the Maryland Science Center! I would like to say a special thank you to my fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Brown, who nominated me for this trip. It really means a lot to me that she believed in me that much. I loved this trip and it would not have been possible without your help.

Thanks you so much,

Tanner Kolb