VAMLE Newsletter
July 2025 Edition
In an effort to provide increased support and opportunities for middle level educators across our two states, the Vermont & New Hampshire Associations for Middle Level Education are seeking your input! Recently, VAMLE Executive Director Kyle Chadburn and members of the NHAMLE board met to discuss how our organizations may be able to partner in order to expand our capacity to offer tools, resources, collaborative opportunities, and professional learning events that are specifically targeted to middle level educators. Please take a few minutes to complete the short survey linked below to provide us with critical information that will inform our pathway forward. We greatly appreciate your feedback!
In The Successful Middle School: This We Believe, collaboration between schools and community partners (like local businesses and organizations) is an essential characteristic of effective middle level programs. By connecting young adolescents with the people in their communities, schools can build a solid foundation of support for students and help them feel safer and more secure. Connecting middle school students with local business owners and community organizations also helps make learning relevant and meaningful by showing how academic skills are used outside the classroom. These relationships expose students to a wide range of careers, build awareness of local opportunities, and help them see themselves as capable contributors to their community. Early interactions with professionals also strengthen transferable skills such as communication, problem-solving, and teamwork, while fostering mentorship, motivation, and confidence. By grounding education in their place, schools can inspire students' curiosity, encourage civic engagement, and support students in making informed decisions about their future paths. Here are a few sources to guide your efforts to connect students with their community:
- "Setting Up Community Partnerships for PBL" - Edutopia
https://www.edutopia.org/article/setting-up-community-partnerships-pbl
- "School-Community Engagement: 5 Steps to Creating Impactful Partnerships" - New Leaders
- "Service Learning Ideas for Middle School" - We Are Teachers
Find AMLE's This We Believe: The Successful Middle School here.
Read VAMLE's guiding document, "Middle School is Not a Building," here.
Promote student leadership by attending the NELMS Student Leadership Conference.
As you begin the new year in January, it can be helpful to engage students in reflective practices so they can look back at the growth they have achieved so far this year and set goals for the remainder of the school year. This reflection benefits students in numerous ways, both academically and personally.plays a powerful role in supporting middle school students during a critical stage of academic, social, and emotional development. By regularly reflecting on their learning experiences—such as assessing what strategies worked, what challenges they faced, and how they might approach tasks differently in the future—students develop metacognitive skills that strengthen comprehension, problem-solving, and long-term retention of knowledge. This process helps students move beyond simply completing assignments to understanding how they learn best, which leads to increased independence, motivation, and academic confidence.
Beyond academics, self-reflection nurtures personal growth by helping students make sense of their emotions, behaviors, and interactions with others. Through guided reflection, students learn to recognize effort, manage setbacks, and view mistakes as opportunities for growth rather than failure. These skills support emotional regulation, empathy, and responsible decision-making—essential traits for healthy relationships and positive school engagement. As students practice self-reflection consistently, they become more self-aware and resilient learners who are better equipped to set goals, adapt to change, and take ownership of both their personal development and academic success.
Here are a few resources and tools to help you guide students in their reflection in your classroom:
- Responsive Classroom - "Stop & Think: Teaching Students to Reflect"
- AMLE - "Student Reflection: A Tool for Growth & Development"
- Edutopia - "Encouraging Meaningful Reflection with Creative Digital Tools"
- Attend the Middle Grades Collaborative's monthly "Conversations" to discuss problems of practice and strategies for overcoming them.
- Attend the New England League of Middle Schools' (NELMS) Annual Conference. In 2026 it is being held in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 19th & 20th.
- Join the VAMLE board! More information about board membership can be found here on our website. We would love to have you as part of our team!
Contact VAMLE:
Kyle Chadburn (he/him)
Executive Director
P.O. Box 62
Newport, VT 05855