Hello Parents: As School Counselors, we are committed to helping our students be successful academically at our school. We want our students to have every opportunity to improve their reading and math skills, which are critical to future success at the high school level where credits are earned. At Fairhope Middle School, academics always come first! STAR is the progress monitoring assessment currently used at elementary and middle schools in Baldwin county.

We, along with our teachers and administration, stress to our students how important it is for them to do their very best on the progress monitoring assessments (STAR) which are administered three times a year. The scores are used to determine if reading and/or math intervention is indicated for a student. We have two levels of intervention in reading. Guided Reading is a program for students who score at the urgent intervention level. Students who do not benchmark but are close are placed in the Reading Test Prep Program. Students who are close to benchmarking may also be placed in the Math Test Prep Program. These programs are coded as Reading and Math Readiness in PowerSchool. Regarding the Reading Readiness classes, if the student’s teacher is Ms. Steigerwald, then the class is Guided Reading. 

We do understand that an enrichment class such as art is enjoyable for many students. However, being proficient/at grade level in reading and math is crucial to overall academic success. Again, at FMS, academics are our top priority! If your student has been placed in a Reading and/or Math Readiness class, then he/she will have this enrichment for both semesters and no schedule changes will occur. Placement is determined by the highest score from either the winter or spring STAR. Every year, there are some parents and students who are not happy with this decision. However, it has been our experience that our students who take these Reading and Math Readiness classes not only improve their assessment scores but also show an increase in confidence as they meet their target goals. Below are descriptions of the Test Prep classes and Guided Reading classes.

Your support of our efforts to prepare your students for future academic success at the high school level is very much appreciated.

TEST PREP REQUIRED FOR SELECTED STUDENTS (Year-round Enrichment)
7th and 8th grade Test Prep Classes for Reading and Math are available for students who did not benchmark on the STAR tests. The majority of the students selected for this class are close to benchmark and may include "A" and "AB" honor roll students. Students will learn test-taking strategies and have practice opportunities for reading and comprehending informational text as well as math concepts and practice. The purpose of these enrichment classes is to help students to be on track to meet readiness goals in high school. Students who score at and above the STAR benchmarks will be better prepared for the ACT test in the eleventh or twelfth grade. The Test Prep Reading and/or the Test Prep Math classes are required for selected students.  

GUIDED READING REQUIRED FOR SELECTED STUDENTS (Year-round Enrichment)

7th and 8th grade Guided Reading classes are intervention classes for students who score at the urgent intervention level on STAR. 

Best Regards,

Fairhope Middle School Counselors