Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School - How MEMS Operates

How MEMS Operates

Communities in MEMS are named after Greek letters. There are "community days" once in a while, in which students in each community enjoy a group activity during which they bond and get to know one another. The 7th grade communities are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Zeta. The 8th grade communities are Kappa, Lambda, Sigma, Omega, and Theta. Each community has a sister community with the same schedule; for example, Zeta and Omega are sister communities and have identical time schedules. The exception to this are the sisters Delta and Sigma; Delta has extended periods on B, D, and E days, while Sigma has double periods on these days. Sigma and Delta are usually the largest communities, with Zeta and Theta being the smallest by far; however, starting the 2007-2008 year, Zeta and Theta were supposedly being made into full-size communities. Now in 2012, Zeta has become part of Gamma.

Schedules usually include sixty to seventy minute classes (homeroom is not a separate period) and seven periods, with a different double period for a different core subject each day. The only communities that do not have to follow this rule are Delta and Sigma (sister communities), which have extended periods for all the core subjects instead of one double period for one core subject. MEMS uses an A-F day system; on days ACE, the 8th grade communities have a double period while seventh graders have physical education or health class, and it is vice versa on BDF days. Students are sorted into three levels of classes (Levels 1, 2, and 3, 1 being the highest). For seventh graders, the first half of the year is spent in PBL, or problem based learning. This is when the student is paired up with other students in their community with teachers around the school. For example, if you have art PBL, you will learn problems/activities in art, such as clay-working, molding, etc. The other half of the year for seventh graders is spent in World Language. MEMS offers two languages, Italian and Spanish. Vice-verso for the eight graders who have PBL in the second half and World Language in the first half.

2006 Test scores show that 2% of 7th graders at MEMS are at or above the level for Language Arts Literacy, as compared to 80%, which is the New Jersey state average. 18% of 7th graders are at or above the level for Math in 2006, as compared to the 64% state average. MEMS is noted for two of its Cycle classes (Cycle classes are similar to electives), which specialize in preparing students for the GEPA standardized testing in 8th grade.

8th grade 2006 scores include 23% in science (state average 79%), 34% in language (state average 74%), and 32% in math (state average 65%).