At the Oct. 13 Fox Chapel Area School District meeting, Dr. Laura Miller, Dorseyville Middle School program principal, and teachers Emily Grochowski and Dave Snyder presented a newly created student recognition team and the programs it will run to highlight student achievement across academics, arts and athletics.

Dr. Miller said the recognition team was developed in response to feedback received from the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) and the Schools to Watch program. Emily Grochowski and Dave Snyder described multiple components of the initiative:

- Quarterly honor roll recognition (honors/high honors with certificates posted in the building and emailed to families).
- A revamped Student of the Month tied to PBIS (Prepared, Productive, Polite) with personalized letters, window clings, engraved plaques and letters provided by Senator Williams office.
- A "golden ticket" end-of-year teacher nomination recognizing a single student who shows marked improvement or excellence, with a keepsake wooden ticket and a celebratory luncheon or VIP event.
- Expanded recognition for music and art: teachers nominate one student per grade and discipline; nominees are featured on posters, digital signage and receive parent notification.
- Featured Boxes wall to spotlight outstanding athletes and non-athletic achievers on a rotating schedule (new athlete highlighted every 10 days; coaches nominate leaders). The program will also include non-athletic recognitions such as student-made projects presented at conferences and film festivals.
- A notes-of-appreciation program via a Google form, producing school-appropriate notes sent to recipients.
- A cultural mosaic spotlight on digital signage and cafeteria displays to highlight students learning English as a second language; monthly country spotlights will rotate quarterly.
- Use of the school maker space and digital signage to highlight student work and events, and support for club and PTO activities.

Grochowski and Snyder said these efforts are intended to increase student engagement, school spirit and a sense of belonging as students transition from smaller elementary buildings to a larger middle school environment. They noted the program already recognizes hundreds of students each quarter via honor roll and student-of-the-month programs and that new features aim to broaden recognition across disciplines and backgrounds.

Board members thanked the presenters and said the middle school is focusing on belonging and whole-child approaches in middle-level education.