Middle States

Presentation BVM School was awarded Middle States Accreditation in 1995. This initial self-study gave the school community a keener awareness of who they were, how they were changing, and the vision for what they would become.

In 2004, Presentation School began the reaccreditation process. This time the focus would be an anti-bullying project. As we complete the seventh year of our anti-bullying Middle States project, we concentrated on empowering the bystander, the child who stands and watches a bullying incident and who perhaps feels helpless to assist the target and is afraid the target may become him/her. Teachers have continued to instruct students in the tenants of the Olweus Program we have employed since the onset of this project, but we also believed that we needed to emphasize the dynamic role the bystanders could play in ameliorating a bullying situation through the utilization of skills that would enable intervention on behalf of peers.

Many of our classes participated in an on-going program entitled “Bucket Fillers” that addresses with the students the fact that children who learn how to express kindness and love lead happier lives. The “Bucket Fill-osophy” is the brainchild of Carol McCloud and her book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? was written to teach children to be bucket fillers. The sand bucket, a common toy, becomes a symbol of compassion and caring; in filling someone else’s bucket, the child also fills his or hers and thus becomes a means of making the world a better place to be. In our continuing efforts to keep the project relevant, our Middle States committees have evaluated their roles and will adjust to our fluctuating needs.

Although it is time to begin the reaccreditation process once again our determination to continue our Anti-bullying Project is unwavering.