Horizon Middle School, located in the Sand Creek Zone, is a student-centered, community service-oriented school with a committed staff that keeps high expectations for all students. Staff members use positive behavior support to promote positive, proactive student and staff relationships.
Curricula
Horizon Middle School promotes academics that support the Colorado Academic Standards, while nurturing different perspectives and learner dispositions. We have adopted behaviors and mindframes that maximize student learning which include: :
- The importance of assessment and feedback for teachers and students
- Working collaboratively and fostering the sense of community
- 'The notion that learning should be challenging
- Engaging in dialogue and the correct balance between talking and listening
- Conveying what success looks like to learners
- Building positive relationships
At Horizon, students receive the academic support that they need. Through our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), we are able to identify which students need which supports. The MTSS process is a system that allows staff, including administrators and counselors, to communicate about student supports and interventions on an ongoing basis. Students may receive additional literacy and math support through targeted intervention classes that are embedded during the school day and after-school programs designed to support academic needs. We also offer time for academic support during the day and after-school study lab for students needing additional time and assistance.
Extracurricular
We encourage students to get involved and try new things during middle school. Who knows, they may find a passion? Students may participate in after-school clubs such as: chess club, international club, robotics, talent show, honor choir, lifting and conditioning, Battle of the Books and writing club.
Community
Horizon is highly committed to community involvement and support. The community service club sponsors a number of events to teach students the importance of contributing to the community. Students are encouraged to support charities and groups through a variety of creative events of their design, such as One Nation Walking Together, Stockings for Soldiers, Care and Share, Water for People and Heifer International. To show their profound gratitude and support of military families, faculty invite guest speakers and military family members to participate in Veterans Day assemblies.
Sand Creek Zone PlanThink of the Sand Creek Zone plan this way...the vital work we do every day, no matter the assignment, drives student success. Each member of the Sand Creek Zone team engages in service for our learners,. parents, and community in some way, shape, or form. Every staff member helps create a work environment that is healthy and stimulating. Our schools will continue to innovate and grow in purposeful fashion.Our goals address four pillars...Student Success, People, Service, and Innovation/Growth. We have defined strategic actions aligned with each of the pillars and goals and measures to assess our performance.
District 49 will create a robust portfolio of distinct and exceptional schools. It’s not enough just to have a bunch of different kinds of schools; the district needs to have high quality, exceptional schools. District 49 strives to offer wonderful schools in all of its zones, schools that are different from each other and superior to the options students might have in neighboring districts and communities.District 49’s board-approved strategic plan provides unified vision, goals and strategies to prepare students to achieve like never before. Its strategic plan is organized around a big rocks metaphor. If the district identifies and focuses on what's most important – its big rocks of trust, community, best district, portfolio of schools and every student – and then adds other things around them, the medium-sized rocks, and finally works in the pebbles, everything better fits together. District 49 has applied this metaphor in its strategic plan, which identifies the district's Big Rocks. These strategic initiatives will be emphasized over the upcoming years, representing the district’s commitment to its community. These five rocks are its foundation for building an excellent future with its staff, students and greater community.
