North Pole Middle leaders tout community-backed awards, expanding programs and shift from suspensions

Joseph Self, principal at North Pole Middle School, said his staff has focused on building a positive school identity and stronger student supports, citing recent gains in attendance and reading.

"We met those at the winter benchmark this year," Self said, referring to district targets of about 2% growth in regular attendance and reading on grade level. Self said the school serves sixth through eighth grades and has just over 600 students.

The administrators described a mix of academic and extracurricular investments that they say reinforce that culture. Chip Abelafia, an assistant principal who joined the school this year, summarized a central change in discipline approach: "We need change from exclusionary discipline. It's easy to suspend. Go home. We don't want you. But we do want them," he said, arguing the school will focus on in-school supports and behavioral interventions.

The episode highlighted the Knights Award, a recognition program supported by the school's PTSO and local businesses. Abelafia said the awards recognize students for grit and community values three times a year, with two recipients per grade and each prize valued at more than $100. "When you have fun, when you have that commitment, that's how you really get the team to gel together," he said of the program's community-building effect.

Administrators also pointed to growing extracurricular participation and recent student achievements. Jake Glenn, an assistant principal and athletic director, noted roughly 80 students participated in track and field this season and praised recent choir and band performances; another speaker estimated the middle school band includes about 160 students. Self and colleagues described five teacher-led National History Day groups — eight students in all — who qualified for nationals and will travel to the University of Maryland for the competition.

On transition supports, staff described "Jump Start," a first-day orientation for incoming sixth graders that includes building tours, scavenger hunts and team-building activities to reduce anxiety and build relationships before academic work begins. Administrators said the counseling team will coordinate monthly awareness topics, such as mental health awareness in May, to reinforce student supports throughout the year.

Self credited a pre-term leadership planning session and ongoing teacher leadership teams with helping sustain consistent expectations and teacher voice. He emphasized that improving student performance depends on keeping students engaged in school and supporting the adults who work with them.

The podcast episode was recorded during teacher appreciation week. Administrators said Jump Start planning meetings are already underway and that counselors and behavioral intervention staff will be central to the newly emphasized in-school support strategies.