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Kristen Albert
Professor Shteirman
ILS 562
1 October, 2014
North End Middle School Site Evaluation
ABOUT THE CITY OF WATERBURY:
Waterbury, CT is located in New Haven County. According to census data, Waterbury,
CT has a population of 109,676 (2013). The City of Waterbury dates back to 1674 (City of
Waterbury-Community). Waterbury started as a river and rail industrial town. During this
time, the brass industry led to a thriving economy and gave Waterbury the nickname, The Brass
City (City of Waterbury-Community).
According to census data, 25.6% of the population is under the age of 18. 58.8% of the
population is White. 20.1% is African-American, and 31.2% is Hispanic or Latino. 34.1% of
the population speaks a language other than English at home. 78.8% of the population holds a
high school degree; 16.8% hold a Bachelors degree. The median household income is $40,867.
21.9% of the population lives below the poverty line ( U.S. Census Bureau).
ABOUT NORTH END MIDDLE SCHOOL:
North End Middle School is located on 534 Bucks Hill Road, in the north side of
Waterbury. The mission of North End Middle School is to build a safe, respectful, responsible

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learning environment (NEMS- Our Mission).
North End Middle School is a grade 6-8
regular education school.
Indicators of Educational Need
According to the 2012-2013 School
Strategic Profile, there are 1,105 students at
North End Middle School. Of these students, 938 (84.9%) are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
125 (11.3%) are considered not fluent in English. Furthermore, 238 (21.5%) are identified as
having disabilities. No students are identified as gifted or talented (CT Department of Education,
1). These percentages are compared to state percentages in the table below:
Comparison of Need Indicator Percentages for NEMS and State
NEMS Percentages

State Percentages

Eligible for Free or Reduced

Lunch

84.9%

30.9%

Not Fluent in English

11.3%

3.4%

Identified as Having
Disabilities

21.5%

12.4%

Gifted or Talented

0%

7%

Library and Computers

At North End Middle School, there is 1 computer for every 3 students, compared to the
state average of 1 computer for every two students ( CT Department of Education, 2). There are
15.2 print volumes in the library per student, as opposed to the state average of 22.2 per student.

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Students and staff at North End Middle School have free access to online articles, newspapers
and resources through the Connecticut Digital Library (CT Department of Education, 2).
CMT Testing
CMT Test Percentage Goals are as follows:
Subject
Grade 6 Reading

NEMS

State

36.6

73.3

Writing

18.7

65.1

Math

22.8

67.0

54.3

78.9

Writing

26.0

64.9

Math

27.0

65.4

49.6

76.2

Writing

33.9

67.2

Math

21.6

65.0

Science

17.6

60.4

Grade 7 Reading

Grade 8 Reading

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT:
When someone walks in the school, they immediately see the main office to the left, and
the library media center directly ahead. There are posters and student artwork all along the halls
throughout the school. The bulletin boards also highlight student art, and some are used to track
incentives for appropriate behavior, like following dress code.

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The school is broken up into 3 houses- the Blue House, the Red House, and the Gold
House. Each house has an assistant principal which oversees the house. There are three subject
teachers per house, one for each grade. These subjects are Math, English and Language Arts,
Social Studies and Reading. There are 4 Literacy teachers and two Numeracy teachers, who
operate as specials. Other classes that are considered specials include: Business, Family
Consumer Science, Physical Education, Art, Chorus, and Wood Shop.
North End Middle School is connected to Wilby High School, though the doors that
conjoin the two schools are always locked. However, the close proximity of the two schools
allows for some collaboration. For instance, a joint middle school/ high school book club takes
place once a month.
North End Middle school uses a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support System to
create a positive and safe learning environment for students. At the school, they follow the
R.A.M.S. rule, which is that respect, attitude, and motivation equal success. Select students are
awarded Super Student awards for proper behavior. Other school wide incentives include Bug
Awards (extra points on a test or project), homework passes, and Speed Passes (a pass that lets
you jump to the front of the lunch line).
THE LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER:
The library media center at North End Middle
School is directly ahead when someone walks
into the main entrance. The circulation desk is
right when you first walk in. It is not very
large, but is large enough for two stations, one

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for myself and the other for the library aide, Ms. Angelicola. The circulation desk also houses a
printer and scanner for staff and students to use.
The entire media center is shaped like a big U, with the circulation area comprising the
left part, a computer area making up the bottom part, and a meeting area making up the right
part.

Directly in the back of the media center are three classrooms. The windows reveal a

courtyard with planted flowers.

The circulation area has 5 circular tables and
a projection screen for instruction. The computer
area also has a set of couches to be used a reading,
discussion or informal meeting area.
Along the walls are reading posters and
student artwork. There is also an Earth Day sculpture displayed. The bulletin boards display
more art, as well as information about the library, including expectations for behavior.
Close to the circulation desk is the New Books section. In addition to the fiction and
nonfiction sections, there is a section for graphic novels, biographies, books in Spanish,
professional development materials, and resources for parents. These sections are currently
labeled, though the signs are small. New signs have been made, and I am currently working with
an ESL teacher to makes signs in Spanish for the
large population of Spanish speaking students.
There are many teachers that are in and out
of the library media center throughout the day. A

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number of teachers use the library during their prep periods. The calendar for circulation or
computer time is online, so teachers can reference it and see what is available. Because of the
library aide, Ms. Angelicola, the library media center is able to stay open even if I am teaching in
a classroom, at lunch duty, or at a planning meeting. This makes it very easy for teachers to
schedule needed time in the library media center for their classes. There currently are business
classes working on the computers for the majority of the day. This means that the media center
is almost always full of students. In addition to the business students, there are students that
come throughout the day to use the computers for other assignments, or to return and check out
books. For the past week and a half, students have also been down to purchase items at the
Scholastic Book Fair.
As the media specialist, I work closely with the social studies teachers. With these
classes, I instruct them on library and research skills as they work on their projects. Lately, I
have been visiting each social studies room to pretest students on library skills and talk about the
materials they can find in the library. We will begin working on research projects within the
next few weeks. I have also been gathering articles, worksheets, and other resources for the
social studies teachers to use during their lessons.
COLLECTION ANALYSIS:
Below is a breakdown of the library collection at North End Middle School:

ITEM LOCATION
Adult Career
Biography
CD
Classroom Collection

COUNT
33
923
2
4477

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DVD
Fiction
Foreign Language
Juvenile Bilingual Material
Juvenile Graphic Novel
Juvenile Playaway
Kit
Nonfiction
Nonfiction Paperback
Paperback
Parent Shelf
Professional
Professional Circulating Reference
Reference
Stacks
Video
TOTAL ITEMS:

29
4618
74
2
48
4
7
4754
81
488
37
812
20
695
55
20
17179

After I pulled this report, it came to my attention that there are a number of discrepancies
between the report and the actual collection. In past years, the reference section had been
completely removed from the library. However, all these items are still inventories in the
system. This may account for the large number of biographies that show up on this list as well.
Ultimately, it appears that though materials were physically weeded from the collection
throughout the years, they were never removed from the catalog. Furthermore, there are a
number of foreign language books that are listed as fiction. The paperback distinction also needs
to be updated, as these books were previously shelved separately but are now with the rest of the
collection.
TECHNOLOGY IN THE LIBRARY MEDIA CENTER:
Technology found in the library media center consists of 30 floor computers. These are
available for use by individual students, or teachers can reserve time for their classes. These

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computers are older, so the school could benefit from upgrades. There will soon be a few extra
computers in the media center as well.
North End Middle School also owns three carts of laptops ( 90 total). As of right now,
these laptops are only to be used during standardized testing.
There are no interactive white boards in the media center, though there are two
projectors- one in the circulation area and one in the meeting area.
CONCLUSION:
Given some of the circumstances surrounding this library media center, it is clear that
there are a lot of hurdles to jump as the library media specialist. The technology at the school
needs to be upgraded and added to. As the library media specialist, I would love to acquire
tablets for students to use in their classes since the laptops are nearly inaccessible right now.
Acquiring this technology is one of my long term goals for this school.
Adding to the collection is another goal of mine at the school. I plan to develop a
reference section for the students to use. I also feel that, given the large percentage of students
not fluent in English, the foreign language section needs to be developed.
Despite these challenges, it is clear that many students enjoy using the library media
center. Because there are multiple copies of certain titles, many students check these books out
and read them together. Many students come down multiple times a week to return their books
and check out new ones. As the library media specialist, I try to develop good relationships with
these students so that they will see the media center as an inviting, welcoming place.

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I also feel that my schedule allows me to freely collaborate with the teachers at the
school. While the flex schedule I am on attributes to this, the presence of a full time library aide
also allows me to work closely with these teachers without having to close the library media
center. Multiple teachers seek me out and are very willing to work together on developing
resources and research projects for their classes. Though the technology issues sometimes hinder
plans from coming to fruition, it is my mission to make myself and the media center as available
as possible to the teachers at North End Middle School.

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Works Cited
Community City of Waterbury. City of Waterbury. 2014. Web. 20 Sept 2014.
http://www.waterburyct.org/content/9586/default.aspx
Connecticut State Department of Education- CEDAR. Connecticut State Department of
Education. CT SDE. 2014. Web. 25 Sept 2014.
http://sdeportal.ct.gov/Cedar/WEB/ResearchandReports/SSPReports.aspx
United States Census Bureau. State and County Quick Facts: Waterbury, CT. United States
Census Bureau. United States Census Bureau. 8 July 2014. Web. 20 Sept 2014.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/09/0980000.html
Our Mission. North End Middle School. Waterbury Public Schools. 2014. Web. 24 Sept
2014. http://www.waterbury.k12.ct.us/content_page2.aspx?schoolid=6&cid=1340