Totem Middle School
School Profile
School Website: http://www.fwps.org/tot/
26630 40th Avenue South |
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What is Special About Our School?
Totem Middle School is a caring, successful learning environment for many reasons. Our dedicated staff members and parents make it special by working tirelessly to help students meet grade-level expectations. This school welcomes and embraces parent involvement and support from the entire learning community. We realize that parent involvement increases student achievement, and we strive to include parents in all aspects of our school community.
Totem offers a comprehensive educational program to every student. We have Algebraic Thinking and pre-AP Math. The curriculum for our pre-AP classes is Springboard, which was developed by Collegeboard. Critical thinking, reading and writing, and preparing students to take AP classes in high schools is the focus of this program. Teachers also use AVID (Advance Via Individual Determination) strategies in their classrooms, including Cornell Notes and Reciprocal Teaching. We have five sections of AVID this year. AVID is college prep elective, but the strategies for AVID are used school-wide to create a college going culture.
Our school is organized around best practices for middle school students. We have six teams of teachers working with students at Totem. We provide a challenging curriculum in all our classes, and provide the support for all students to succeed. Our ELL students and Special Education students are mainstreamed into regular classrooms for a majority of the school day. The ELL teachers and Special Education teachers work closely with regular classroom teachers. Our Para professionals also provide additional support in mainstream classrooms. Advisory is incorporated into first period. We believe student leadership is an important component of middle school education and we have included Leadership and Service Learning classes this year during the school day. We have a comprehensive, quality music program at Totem and offer Choir, Band, Orchestra and General Music classes. Study clubs and literacy academies provide additional academic support for students after school.
We are exited about two future programs at Totem. TechStart is a free 6-8 grade after school program sponsored by the Technology Access Foundation. This unique program teaches students computer applications and beginning programming while they learn about science. TechStart will begin in January 2008. The TAF (Technology Access Foundation) Academy will start in the fall 2008 on the Totem campus. It will be a separate school with emphases on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. For more information about both of these programs, please go to www.techaccess.org.
A variety of sports, clubs, and other activities for students add to the Totem school spirit. Totem was the first school in Federal Way to implement a uniform policy. We believe that uniforms remove barriers to learning and permit students to focus more attention on academics.
Totem is located in a neighborhood setting and houses a divers student body. The four elementary schools that feed into Totem is Mark Twain, Star Lake, Sunnycrest and Valhalla. Our graduates attend either Thomas Jefferson or Federal Way High School.No Child Left Behind Report Card
The No Child Left Behind Act requires all schools and school districts in the United States to prepare annual reports for parents and the public detailing their academic achievement. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s web site makes this information available on-line at http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/ Click on Federal Way in the “Summary” box, then choose your school from the list. You may also request a paper copy of the report card at your school’s office. For more information about the NCLB Act, go to http://www.nclb.gov/index.html.
Academic and Student Programs
- AmeriCorps Mentoring
- Art
- AVID (Advance Via Individual Determination) 7th & 8th Grade
- Band, Orchestra, Choral music
- Boys’ and girls’ basketball
- Boys’ baseball
- Chess Club
- Drama
- English Language Learners (ELL) Support
- Football
- Full-time counselors
- Gymnastics
- Honor Society
- Jazz Band
- Keyboarding
- Leadership Class
- Service Learning
- Softball (fast pitch)
- Special Education (inclusion, consultant, and resource room)
- TechStart (to begin January 2008)
- Track
- Volleyball
- WASL Academy
- Wrestling
- Yearbook Club
Student Characteristics
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Distribution of Student Ethnicity |
2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| African American | 19.68 | 18.65 | 16.40 |
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Asian American |
16.31 | 14.78 | 14.10 |
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Hispanic |
22.37 | 26.52 | 30.20 |
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Native American |
1.75 | 1.52 | 1.40 |
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White |
37.60 | 33.43 | 32.00 |
| Pac Islander | 1.21 | 1.93 | 3.10 |
| Multi-Racial | .94 | 1.66 | 1.60 |
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Other Student Characteristics |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
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Number of Students (Oct.) |
745 | 731 | 701 |
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Free/Reduced Meals |
53.5% | 61.3% | 67.7% |
How Are We Using Our Financial Resources?
| Our District | Our School | ||
| “Per Pupil” Expenditures for 2007-08 | Funding | ||
Total Expenditure |
$8,296.00 | Building Expenditures |
$161,911.61 |
Supplies & Instructional Materials |
$432.00 | ASB (Associated Student Body) Expenditures |
$53,385.13 |
Equipment |
$52.00 | ||
School resources were used for planning time, staff in-service time, workshops, conferences, portfolio materials, photocopying, curriculum materials, and computer supplies.
How Are Our Students Doing on Required Tests?
*Beginning in spring of 2006, the state of Washington requires that the WASL be given at sixth grade.
Percentage Meeting Standard in:
| Grade 6 |
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Reading |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
School |
50.0 |
42.0 |
62.0 |
59.2 |
District |
53.0 |
51.0 |
69.0 |
68.5 |
Math |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
School |
58.0 |
45.0 |
29.0 |
34.2 |
District |
60.0 |
59.0 |
49.0 |
48.3 |
| Grade 7 |
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Math |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
School |
42.1 |
46.0 |
35.0 |
37.1 |
District |
46.6 |
53.0 |
51.0 |
54.0 |
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Reading |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
School |
66.3 |
69.0 |
50.0 |
63.6 |
District |
65.4 |
75.0 |
66.0 |
72.4 |
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Writing |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
School |
62.2 |
57.0 |
52.0 |
52.0 |
District |
64.2 |
66.0 |
67.0 |
70.7 |
| Grade 8 |
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Math |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
School |
.0 |
.0 |
41.0 |
40.3 |
District |
.0 |
.0 |
48.0 |
50.0 |
Reading |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
School |
.0 |
.0 |
76.0 |
64.7 |
District |
.0 |
.0 |
76.0 |
69.0 |
Science |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
School |
36.0 |
21.0 |
31.0 |
24.0 |
District |
42.0 |
33.0 |
42.0 |
40.0 |