Middle School Program Makes Things Easier

Suddenly, middle school became a little easier. Students at Wells Middle School are using a daily program called Check and Connect to help them with a range of important life skills.

“Every morning and afternoon there’s an announcement,” explained 8th grader Elena Negro, “and we go to our Gmail and click on a link called Check and Connect. It’s got the daily schedule, clubs, and activities for the day and a career or major of the day. I like it a lot because I’m in band, and it’s got the lesson schedule–in the past, I had to walk to the band room to find out the schedule.” 

Students are entrusted with the responsibility of checking their email both in the morning and afternoon, to receive crucial announcements and pertinent information related to Wells. 

“This objective aligns with the "Careers" theme of our district's success projects initiative,” explained Principal Carlos Rodriguez. “One of the goals of Check and Connect is to enhance executive functioning capabilities and cultivate responsible students through the habit of checking their email correspondences twice daily. This initiative plays a pivotal role in preparing students for high school, as they will be expected to perform similar tasks at BHS.”

How are students and teachers receiving the information? The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, as it provides a centralized location for accessing information on a daily basis. No longer do students or faculty members need to recall an announcement that could potentially be overlooked during the morning hours. Instead, they can simply "Check and Connect."

Charlene Monroy, a 7th grader, who is taking a class called Career Exploration, likes the Career feature in Check and Connect–each day, the jobs and majors roll out in alphabetical order.

“Although I know I want to be a fashion designer, I like reading about careers in engineering and law, and I think it’s great for someone who might not know what they want to do for a career.”

“I used to never check my email,” said 7th grader Alyssandra Addor, “so it’s gotten me used to a regular habit of checking them daily.”