Visit to Upper Merion Area Middle School

Thursday, October 29th saw us packing to leave Baltimore to return to Philadelphia and the comfortable confines of Chris and Jay's lovely home. No need to walk to dinner AND we can do the washing! First though, we had to renegotiate our way in the Beemer back along Interstate 95 North. Not quite so stressful this time and thank goodness for GPS!!!

First stop was a visit to Upper Merion Area Middle School. This is a school of 1165 Grade 5 - 8 students that are housed in a truly amazing educational facility. The initiate impressions were what an imposing and impressive structure the building was. Intensive security was evident with swipe passes needed to access administrative areas and the front entrance. A sign of the times. We met up withPrincipal, John Adiletto, who we had met in Baltimore. One of the treasures on display in his office was a photo of John and Barak Obama when a campaign advertisement was filmed at Upper Merion during the 2008 Presidential Election. How exciting! Dr. Karen Geller, Assistant Principal, took us on an extensive tour of their facility and discussed the various programs and organisational structures in place. Of special interest was the "Community of Caring" program which instills values of respect and coooperation amongst the students. Clearly, this approach is well embedded in the school's culture which was evident in the spontaneous, warm, friendly and respectful interactions we observed amongst the students, their teachers and ourselves as visitors. As educators<>