• Message from Principal Sarah Braman-Smith

    principalGreetings and welcome to the 2023-24 School Year! 
     
    I am thrilled to be in my ninth year as the Wy'east Middle School Principal.  I grew up and started my educational career in Michigan.  I taught for seven and a half years as a language arts and speech teacher while also earning my Masters degree in secondary school administration.  I decided to pursue an administrative position in the state of Oregon.  I moved to Oregon in 2005 and spent that summer in Hood River.  I discovered the wonders of this beautiful valley.  There was not an opportunity for me to join the HRCSD team at that time.  I landed in Central Oregon at Jefferson County School District.  I served that district for 10 years as a special education teacher, a high school assistant principal, and a high school principal.  Hood River stayed close to my heart, as did middle level education, so when the opportunity at Wy'east became available I knew I needed to go for the position.  
     
    This year we are excited to launch schoolwide binders to help our learners with organization.  Additionally, we want to emphasize the importance of daily outside of school reading for 30 minutes as we need to strengthen our literacy scores across the school.  We will be sharing tips throughout the year. 
    • We are focused as a school on providing a rigorous and accessible program for each learner.  Our instructional focus is around creating independent learners who are able to collaborate to learn. Here are some of our focus strategies that we are using to support each learner.
      • SEL (Social Emotional Learning) - Learners at Wy'east have Advisory class four days a week with a focus on supporting social emotional learning and strategies to support success at the middle level.  
      • AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) - We focus on instructional strategies that support Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading.  Our daily planners are a huge component of our schoolwide efforts for AVID. 
      • PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Systems) - Our code of conduct is here to support every learner.  The frame work we use is: Be respectful.  Be responsible. Be safe. Be a learner. 
      • Biliteracy Program - We are pleased to be developing a biliteracy program for our learners who come in with both Spanish and English literacy skills developed.
    • We are a 1:1 iPad school. 
    • We have a full rounded approach to education, offering electives in STEAM, Music, Physical Education, Spanish, Drama, Art, and targeted interventions as needed. 

    We have an amazing staff that is here to serve the young minds of the mid and upper valley.  We appreciate hearing from you and would love to get you involved.  Please visit the office to fill out a volunteer form and see where you might be able to assist us in our goals.  

    Make it an amazing day and keep striving for the summit! 

    Ms. Braman-Smith