VAMLE Newsletter
July 2025 Edition
Our VAMLE Board
Our VAMLE Board now includes:
President - Melissa Muzzy, Vergennes Middle Level
President Elect - Andrea Gratton, Brownington Central School
Past President - Nancy Doda, Middle Grade PD Coach
Secretary - Jen MacDonald, People's Academy Middle Level
Treasurer - Rachel Hamm Vaughan, Special Olympics VT
Board Member - Meg O'Donnell, Shelburne Community School
Board Member - Bonnie Johnson-Aten
Board Member - Carrie Gilman, Montpelier Roxbury Schools
Board Member - Brenda Kendall, St. Johnsbury School
Board Member - Gary Russell, FH Tuttle Middle School
Ex Officio Board Member - Ryan Parkman, VT Agency of Education
Executive Director - Kyle Chadburn, Orleans Central Supervisory Union
Interested in becoming part of the VAMLE board? We would love to have you! Our goal is to represent diverse perspectives in middle level education across Vermont, so please reach out and express your interest at any time!
In This We Believe: The Successful Middle School, the Culture & Community vision centers on creating an environment that is responsive, equitable, inclusive, and empowering for young adolescents. Here in Vermont, the development process for Personal Learning Plans (PLPs) directly reinforces those cultural pillars in three major ways:
1. Fostering Equity, Inclusivity, and Belonging
This We Believe emphasizes that a successful middle school culture honors the diverse backgrounds, strengths, and developmental stages of every student. The PLP development process places the student at the center of their own learning journey. Rather than forcing young adolescents into a one-size-fits-all mold, PLP creation invites students to explore their personal identity and identify personal goals, interests, cultural identity, and learning styles. This self-exploration signals that who they are as individuals is valued by the school community and helps educators better meet their needs and connect with them in deeper, more meaningful ways.
2. Cultivating Student Agency and Voice
A core value within AMLE's cultural vision is active student engagement and shared responsibility in the learning process. Designing a PLP requires ongoing dialogue between students, educators, and families. By reflecting on their growth, setting meaningful academic and personal targets, and choosing pathways through which they hope to achieve them, students build critical metacognitive skills and take ownership of their education. This shifts the school culture from adult-centered compliance to student-centered empowerment.
3. Strengthening School, Family, and Community Connections
AMLE stresses that middle schools must build strong, collaborative partnerships with families and the local community. The PLP process serves as a bridge between these groups. For families, the connection is multi-faceted. Instead of traditional, passive report cards, PLP reviews (often led by the student during student-led conferences) engage families in holistic discussions about growth, aspirations, passions, and other aspects of the student experience that are meaningful and relevant to the student in that moment. From the community perspective, PLPs frequently incorporate community-engaged learning, career exploration, and service projects.This aligns with AMLE's call to connect classroom learning to authentic real-world contexts and local communities and builds stronger ties between students, the place where they live, and the people with whom they share that space.
Here are a few resources and tools to help you get started with building a strong and positive classroom community at your school:
- Resource: PLP Toolkit, Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education
- Resource: PLP Guide & Tools, PLP Pathways
- Article: "Integrating Personal Learning Plans Into Practice," Middle Grades Collaborative
- Article: "Building Identity Units Through Personal Learning Plans," Don Taylor, Middle Grades Collaborative
- Attend the Middle Grades Collaborative's monthly "Conversations" to discuss problems of practice and strategies for overcoming them.
- Attend Professional LearningOpportunities from the New England League of Middle Schools (NELMS).
- 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!
- Attend the Middle Grades Institute in June 2027!
Contact VAMLE: PLEASE NOTE A CHANGE IN THE DIRECTOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS
Kyle Chadburn (he/him)
Executive Director