Horizon Community Middle School

Student Voice at HCMS

At Horizon Community Middle School, we value the perspectives and input of our students. Students should have a say in how they learn and how their school functions. Here are some of the unique and innovative ways that we seek out student voice at Horizon Community Middle School:

Definitions of our PACK Commitments (Perseverance, Achievement, Connectedness, and Kindness) were created by our students. These can be seen throughout our campus on our school-wide PACK posters. 

We have a Principal’s Advisory Committee which includes student representatives from each Advisory class. This group meets regularly, and students have the opportunity to share important topics with Dr. Weinhold. Students engage in the problem-solving process to support continuous school improvement.  

Students complete a Student Engagement Survey twice per year. This survey gives us the opportunity to hear how students feel on many important school-wide topics. Students were also part of the design of the survey, as they provided feedback on how to improve questions.

Following the administration of the Student Engagement Survey, we engage students from all grades in Focus Group Conversations to learn more about what was reported.

Our Student Equity Workshop is an opportunity for students representing all races to talk about race and racism. While discussing these topics can be challenging, we have found that our students want to engage in these conversations, and they desire to advocate for positive change for our future.

Students support our Staff Equity Work by sharing their lived experiences with our staff. Students have presented topics to be aware of and think about as we support all students at HCMS.

Students have the opportunity to co-create important social-emotional learning (SEL) lessons plans that are used in our Advisory class. This provides a critical student voice in designing SEL experiences that are relevant.

Our teachers make it a priority to design lessons and learning experiences that include student voice.