Learning Environment

Mabry Middle School works with students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.

DESCRIPTION OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
MABRY'S PARTNERS IN EDUCATION:
Apple Computers has been Mabry Middle School's Partner in Education since the Fall of 2001. Apple holds a seat on Mabry's School Council, and they have been very active in Mabry's development of technology. Apple has provided Mabry staff and students very valuable training for their iMovie project for the last two years. This year, Apple will be hosting a "School Night at the Apple Store" for Mabry.
Southern Polytechnic has been Mabry Middle School's Partner in Education since Fall 2001. At that time, Dr. Michael Murphy held a position on Mabry's Technology Support Team. When Mabry's School Council was created in the fall of 2002, he was asked to participate on it also.
Vanderbilt became Mabry's official Partner in Education in March 2003. It will be hosting a Summer Science Institute (SSI) at Mabry for its science teachers. Using the constructivist model of teaching , Mabry's science staff will integrate math, reading, and writing QCCs into their science curriculum using inquiry and hands-on components for lessons and technology.
PARENT TEACHER STUDENT ASSOCIATION (PTSA):
The PTSA Executive Committee consists of two co-presidents, two vice-presidents, one secretary, one treasurer, and one parliamentarian. The PTSA helps to provide the school newsletter "Charging Times," Publix and Kroger cards, Renaissance Program, the Mabry Student Store, plan regularly scheduled programs, the Book Fair, and Target Guest Cards.
MABRY'S HISTORY:
Mabry Middle School opened in November of 1978. The students began school in August of 1978 attending Walton High School from 1:00 – 5:30 PM each day. (The Walton building could not accommodate both high school students and middle schools students at the same time!) After the Thanksgiving holiday, the students began attendance at new, beautiful, and state of the art middle school. This original design supported the middle school philosophy of a team approach.
Mabry Middle School was named after Robert Watson Mabry. Mr. Mabry was born in 1795 in Virginia. In the early 1800’s he moved to Washington-Wilkes County Georgia where he was a plantation overseer and schoolmaster at the Select School for Girls. In 1833 Mr. Mabry drew land in the Cherokee Lottery and moved his family by covered wagon to the newly created Cobb County. Their first night in Cobb County was spent beside Mabry Rock located on what is presently called Woodstock Road. Shortly after their arrival in Cobb County, Mr. Mabry and his wife worked together and built a log cabin, raised four children, and were instrumental in building a community. This was to be the Mabry home for the remainder of the Mr. and Mrs. Mabry’s lives. The descendants of Robert Watson Mabry’s family still refer to him as a Schoolmaster, Planter, Gentleman, and especially a Pioneer Cobb County Settler.
MABRY'S SCHOOL STAFF:

Principal: Dr. Tim Tyson

Assistant Principal: Ms. Carole Brink

Assistant Administrator: Ms. Susan Debardeleben

Mabry has twelve sixth grade teachers, twelve seventh grade teachers, and twelve eighth grade teachers.

Mabry has seven Connection teachers. Connections is a term that refers to teachers of Band, Music, Orchestra, Art, Business, and FACS.

Mabry has four physical education teachers.

Mabry has three counselors, one for each grade level.

Mabry has four foriegn language teachers.

Mabry has one Instructional Lead Teacher.

Mabry's media center has one media specialist and one paraprofessional.

Mabry has fifteen special education teachers and six paraprofessionals.

Mabry's office staff consists of one secretary, one bookkeeper, one pupil personnel, one permanent substitute, one In-School-Suspension teacher, one school nurse, and one campus cop.

MABRY'S SCHOOL SIZE:
Mabry's total enrollment 1,017, of which 92.3% are white, 3.5% are black ,and 4.1% are categorized as "other."
Mabry has an average of fifteen students per teacher. 1.8% of Mabry's students receive free or reduced lunches. Mabry's expenditure per student is $6013.00, and students at this school generally go on to Lassiter High School. Twenty-eight percent of the students at Mabry are classified as gifted.
MABRY'S TEACHERS:
None of Mabry's teachers have less than one year of experience. Thirty-four of Mabry's teachers have one to ten years of experience. Twenty-two of Mabry's teachers have eleven to twenty years of experience. Thirteen of Mabry's teachers have twenty-one to thirty years of experience. None of Mabry's teachers have more than thirty years of experience. The average teacher at Mabry Middle School has twelve years of experience. Thirty-three percent of Mabry's teachers have advanced degrees of Masters or above.
PURPOSE/GOAL OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Mabry Middle School believes in a team approach to meet the needs of early adolescent students similar to Mr. and Mrs. Mabry’s team approach when settling in Cobb County. However, the vision has evolved to meet the ever-changing world in which students must live. Novel ideas permeate the climate as students prepare for a more advanced future. The students are pioneers in applying technology, tackling advanced math courses and beginning foreign languages. Certainly one could surmise that the students at Mabry are pioneers much like the building namesake Robert Watson Mabry.
METAPHOR/THEME OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Mabry Middle School is always striving for excellence. Mabry updates its environment to keep up with the current standards. The teachers at Mabry are not scared of technology, and the students actually have many opportunities to work with relatively new technologies. The theme for Mabry Middle School is change, because the students and staff welcome new ideas, strategies, and tools.

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