About Troy Howard Middle School
Welcome to the Troy Howard Middle School webpage. We are proud of our school and community and look forward to sharing with you all that we have to offer students. Troy Howard Middle School serves students in grades six, seven, and eight from the towns of Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Searsmont, and Swanville. We are the first opportunity for students in these towns to come together as one "class" before they move onto Belfast Area High School. Total school enrollment runs around 340 students each year with approximately 45 staff members. We are located on a sixty acre wooded lot, next door to the Waldo County YMCA, and walking distance from downtown Belfast.
Our middle school practices middle level concepts as defined in the document, “This We Believe” produced and published by the National Middle School Association. Students are engaged in a rigorous curriculum developed locally in alignment with the "Common Core Learning Standards". Troy Howard staff strives to implement this curriculum through the integration of content areas as much as possible. Examples of this integration are evident within each of our "learning academies" occurring at Troy Howard for all students. Our unique location allows for and encourages staff and students to engage in inquiry-based learning.
Planned activities occur with fifth grade students in the spring to begin the transition process and a parent night to answer questions and introduce key staff.
Troy Howard Middle School strives to meet the diverse learning needs of students in a number of ways. We provide a variety of services for students with special needs. A special education teacher is assigned to each grade level academy. The special education teacher works with students receiving special education services within the typical classroom environment. They are involved as co-teachers within the regular classroom providing support with the flexibility to provide pull out support as needed for students on their team. THMS is also home to three specialized programs. One program provides intense literacy and numeracy support for students with more severe Learning Disabilities. Another program is referred to as “The Learning Center (TLC)” and is primarily for students with severe Developmental Disabilities that require a more functional learning environment for all, or part, of the school day. Our "Pathways" program assists students needing increased behavioral and emotional support.
Troy Howard Middle School provides a number of extra-curricular opportunities for students to be involved in at the end of the school day. Athletics, drama, clubs, student government and advocacy, and fine arts are all available to students in grades six through eight. The school day is enhanced with the inclusion of exploratory unified arts classes. The unified arts teachers work collaboratively with teaching teams to facilitate integration of the arts into daily instruction as appropriate. Students in spend daily time in one of the four following unified arts (rotating on a semester basis); Visual Art, Health, Technology Education and World Language.
School hours are 7:20-2:15. Students must be present in homeroom by 7:35 am.
See our "School Profile" page for more information.