he pride of Prairie Middle School begins with its students, staff, and community. It is our mission to provide every child with an exemplary education. We believe it is the profound responsibility of all of us to provide a strong foundation of academic excellence. Understanding the importance of this means creating a culture where students are encouraged and empowered to achieve at the highest level possible.

Prairie Middle School has developed a national reputation over the last seven years as one of the "National Schools To Watch." We are the only middle school in the nation to have been honored with the award for three consecutive sessions. We have been an AVID National Demonstration School for the last eight years. Prairie has also hosted national and international presenters for educational conferences that are held yearly for all members of our community.

Prairie has been honored as a "National School to Watch" because of its academic excellence and commitment to help all students achieve at high levels. Our formula for success includes our students, our staff and our community. Prairie is one of the largest and most diverse schools in the state of Colorado. We have more than 1500 students who come from 70 countries and speak 45 different languages. We celebrate the fact that diversity is our strength, and cultural awareness is embraced throughout the year.

Our staff is made up of exceptional educators who have a passion for children and broad experience in meeting the needs of different styles of learners. We believe in interactive learning. We want students to be able to engage in hands-on exploration. Students are encouraged to share their understanding of a subject in a variety of ways: engaging in Socratic seminars, cooperative groups, experiential labs, theatrical productions, and much more.

Prairie offers a rich curriculum to meet students' individual needs and help them excel academically. All students participate in a Pre-AP College Board SpringBoard program that helps students prepare for Advanced Placement classes in high school. Students have Math for 90 minutes everyday for both sixth and seventh grade. We have built this into our schedule because Math is a critical subject for many of the careers our students want to pursue. Extended math instruction allows our students to deepen their mathematical understanding that places them ahead of many others on that same career path. Students can also explore other interests and develop other talents through our outstanding elective classes. These include Music and Fine Arts, World Languages, Global Technology, AVID, and Pre-engineering.

Finally, students can participate in a rich variety of extracurricular club and athletic activities. These activities support learning and help students develop their leadership skills and talents.

There is nothing more important or more rewarding than helping our students build bright futures. There is no better place to do that than at Prairie Middle School!