"My interest grew after speaking with a colleague who is a teacher in a neighboring county. She spoke very highly about the students she had in several of her ninth grade classrooms who had graduated from middle school at North Branch, she noticed something different about them... Some of those qualities included: a sense of self-confidence, good communication skills, and a respect for fellow students. People I talked to mentioned the academic successes of North Branch alumni but this was not what impressed them most, they were struck by the interpersonal and social characteristics expressed by the students."

 

"North Branch seeks to build a community where students can become more confident in their own abilities, where they can make suggestions that are heard, and where they feel important. Intricately connected to the idea of self-confidence is the ability to provide students with individual instruction so that the individual voice can be heard."

"I believe that a school like North Branch offers a safe yet challenging atmosphere where...students can have the types of experiences and freedom they need to explore their selves and their abilities in a cooperative setting. For example, two eighth graders approached me one day when I was doing some video taping of various activities. They had poems they had written and thought I might like to tape them reading their pieces, they were confident and proud of their work and were willing to share some of it with me. I thought this was fairly unusual and, in fact, wished that more middle school students I encountered could be more like this."

"In a small school setting such as this one, students have more opportunities to be leaders, to express their opinions, and to be actively involved in the activities of the extra curriculum."

"A focus on the community is definitely present at North Branch, students realize that they are members of that community, as are the staff, volunteers, and parents. Each person takes responsibility for his/her role in the group and at the same time realizes the benefits of such a situation."
"North Branch places an emphasis on cooperation, working together on activities, seminar-style discussion classes, and community projects."

"When I think of North Branch I see faces, the faces of the students and teachers, not philosophers, not theories or textbooks...the actual people. They work together to create an effective learning community, the teachers are passionate about what they do and students are learning not only from their adult role models but also their peers."