Middle School Administrators Update Board on Anti-Bully Program

One year ago, administrators from the approached the will the idea of the .

On Monday, the same administrators: Toby Albanese, Assistant Principal, Kris Digregorio, Assistant Principal, and Kevin Patrick McAneny, Middle School Principal, presented a one year update on the program to the board.

The program is coordinating the middle school community – teachers, administration, staff, and parents in the fight against bullying, according to McAneny. Bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and custodial staff are also included in the program.

He said that during high traffic times, staff is visible in the hallways and have identified “hot spots,” which include the stairwells. A teacher initiative called “adopt a stairwell” was put into place, where between classes a teacher is visible on the top, bottom and middle landing of a stairwell.

“Reporting is absolutely critical if we’re going to win this battle,” said Albanese.

Reporting forms for bullying are available in the middle school in every classroom, and in a number of offices in the school.

Not everything is about teachers, administration and in school prevention. The middle school is also holding a series by the Montgomery County Family Services on guiding good choices for parents of middle school students and late elementary students. The program teaches how to teach values to your students and how to deal with peer pressure, but most importantly, the speaker is willing to meet the needs of the parents there and veer off the scheduled topic.