Middlesex Middle School

Middlesex Middle School
Type Public secondary
Principal Dr. Debi Boccanfuso
Students 1136
Grades 6 - 8
Location Darien, Connecticut, USA
Coordinates 41°04′24″N 73°29′50″W / 41.0733°N 73.4971°WCoordinates: 41°04′24″N 73°29′50″W / 41.0733°N 73.4971°W
District Darien Public Schools
Colors Blue and Silver
Mascot Dragon (formerly)
Website www.darienps.org/middlesex

Middlesex Middle School is a middle school in the Darien Public Schools district in Darien, Connecticut, United States. The school serves students from sixth through eighth grades. Each grade is divided into 4 teams of around 90 to 150 students. In eighth grade there are the Teal (formerly Tan), Maroon, Navy and Green teams, for seventh grade there are the Gold, Purple, Aqua and Blue teams and for sixth grade there are the Yellow (formerly Bronze), Silver, Red and Orange teams.

Awards and recognition

Middlesex has been selected as a National Blue Ribbon School.[1]

Middlesex makes generous donations to charity organizations such as UNICEF. For example, the school has been the nationwide leading contributor to UNICEF for 2004 to 2006, based on its size.[2] In addition, a daffodil drive is held every year to help raise money for cancer. In May 2006, American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken made a surprise visit to the school in gratitude for its UNICEF contributions of $14,000 that year.[3]

In Feb. 2007 Middlesex MathCounts team won the first prize in the South-Western CT MathCounts competition, while the team captain 8th grade student Michael Kushnir won the individual 1st prize. The team went on to CT state MathCounts competition to win the 2nd team place, yielding to a perennial champion Hopkins School. Michael advanced to the second round—CountDown—to win the 2nd place there.

In the school year of 2007 and 2008, the school helped Good Morning America's coat drive. They were the second largest contributor right behind Burlington Coat Factory who was Number One. They normally helped with a coat drive of their own, but when the Student Council and the School's Newspaper (The Dragon) teamed up, they worked together to get the students to contribute lots of coats to this cause.

The 2013 yearbook (Tidings) entitled "Facts + Figures" received a Gold Medal critique from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and won a 2014 Gold Crown from CSPA.

Middlesex is also the highest performing school for the National Geography Bee in Connecticut. Middlesex has been participating in the Bee since 1989. In eighteen of those years MMS' own geography bee champions have qualified for the statewide rounds and took the state championship in 1989, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012 and 2013-representing Connecticut six times at nationals.

History

The 1937 school building, a brick Colonial revival structure, sits on a 27.34-acre (110,600 m2)[4] site at 204 Hollow Tree Ridge Road. The building underwent a major, $27 million addition and renovation in the late 1990s, which was completed in 2000.

In 1983, Middlesex was changed from a junior high school to a middle school.[1] The ninth grade was transferred at that point to Darien High School.

Since 2005, the school district has been gradually equipping the school with air conditioning.[5]

Sporting Events

Unlike some secondary schools in the area, Middlesex does not have any inter-school sports teams. However, intramural sports are abundant. These "after-school" sports are very popular at Middlesex. The sports start in the fall, and continue through the spring. All sports are either refereed or managed by various teachers. These sports in order are, soccer, flag football, ping-pong, volleyball, and basketball. The two most popular sports are flag football and basketball, each of which has a league for 6th and 7th graders, and a separate "elite" league for the 8th graders. Middlesex's gyms and large amount of field space usually are occupied by a travel basketball team or a town soccer game. In Physical Education, students play an array of sports from handball to track and field, and lacrosse.

Pictures

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Web page titled "Welcome from the Principal" at Middlesex Middle School Web site, accessed June 21, 2007
  2. ↑ "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF kicks off" (no byline), news article in The Darien Times weekly newspaper in Darien, Connecticut, October 26, 2006
  3. ↑ Shultz, Susan, "'Idol' surprises Middlesex / Clay Aiken visits school after students raise the most for Unicef", news article in The Darien Times, May 18, 2006, page A1, accessed June 21, 2007
  4. ↑ Darien Parks and Recreation Department "Spring & Summer 2007" brochure, page 3
  5. ↑ Amoroso, Austin, "Finance notes: Hindley elementary to get a modular classroom", article in The Darien Times, February 15, 2007, accessed via NewsBank Web site (www.newsbank.com) on November 15, 2007

External links