Golden Rules and Driving Forces

Whether it’s the “Golden Rule” or another set of standards that may not be as well-defined, everyone typically makes decisions and acts in ways that align with their values and beliefs. With this in mind, community members, students, parents and staff members identified a set of core values that would become the driving force for decisions, behaviors and activities in the Middle School; the values also were used as a code of conduct was developed.

The common values were collected using a survey and the results were certainly interesting. Students felt that fun, kindness, fairness, trust and challenge (pushing kids to be their best) were most important. Parents, staff and community members identified the following values as top priorities: respect, accountability/responsibility, honesty/ integrity, self-discipline/hard work and achievement. The ideas were merged and Schuylerville Middle School now has the following core values:

• Be Kind
• Be Respectful
• Be Responsible
• Work Hard
• Have Fun

Visual Reminders

Students will use their artistic talents to design visual representations/reminders of the core values. This will include posters, artwork and screen savers, as well as a large-scale, two-dimensional art installation that includes all the important values identified by the school community with a special focus on the five core values.