Cross Case Features: Context

Meridian High School: School Context

Approximately 1200students in grades ten to twelve attend Meridian High School, one of two high schools currently in the district. As a result of growth in the community, the district is in the process of building a third high school that will open next year. With the expansion, all district high schools will expand to include grades nine to twelve.

A sense of quiet pride pervades the high school. One teacher commented, “This is a good place to work. We have a lot of parental support. There seem to be high expectations and a lot of kids going to college...The administration treats us like a big family here. In general, we’re fiercely loyal to our principals and we feel they support us also. ”

The school has scheduled six in-service days per year. The in-service sessions devote the mornings to content review and the afternoons to independent work. Primarily, the school has been using the in-service programs to prepare the school for the new assessment processes in reading, writing, and math. Secondly, the school utilizes in-service to prepare for the addition of ninth grade to the school. Although social studies has not been included in the previous schedule of in-service training, it would be a natural starting place for introducing content about Asia and the administration is open to entertaining suggestions for their in-service sessions.