Welcome!
Sinaloa Middle School has a long-standing tradition of academic excellence where the expectation is that all students will strive to achieve their very best and all staff members will work to ensure their success. Students, staff, and parents enthusiastically embrace this challenge of academic excellence for all. Sinaloa is dedicated to the joyous and sometimes bumpy road from childhood to young adulthood. We strive for a balance between rigorous academics and opportunities for personal and social growth. We welcome our parents and community as full partners in the goal of meeting the unique academic and social needs of each student.
School Profile
Sinaloa Middle is one of three middle schools in the Novato Unified School District, serving a student body of roughly 750-800 young adults each year in grades 6 through 8.
We embrace the ever-growing diversity of our population, honoring the unique qualities of each student and building students’ understanding and acceptance of these differences between one another.
Sinaloa staff are committed to providing programs of academic excellence and supporting the social and emotional development of all students. We aim to offer a safe and supportive learning environment that allows students to thrive academically and socially, and ensure they are prepared for their future with 21st-century skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. We challenge our students positively to live as responsible, caring, and contributing citizens of the world.
Our Mission
Sinaloa Middle School is a supportive community where students are challenged to acquire the knowledge and skills to live as responsible individuals in a world of change.
Diversity
We have an especially diverse student body and believe that greatly enriches our community. Our team works hard to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment where all students can thrive, whatever their individual needs, abilities, backgrounds and economic circumstances.
Programs
Sinaloa maintains several programs to support student success. We emphasize an approach of students supporting students, which helps our young people develop a sense of community and responsibility for one another. Students are trained to serve as Peer Coaches and Peer Mediators. All 6th-grade students are trained in our STARS program (Students Taking Action Responsibly and Safely), and 7th and 8th graders are trained in the Let’s Get Real curriculum in their P.E. classes. No Bully Solution Teams® are used to address bullying. Restorative Justice is provided as an alternative to suspension.
The school’s library is staffed by a full-time Library Media Specialist and provides an extensive variety fiction books including graphic novels, full series of popular chapter books and a growing section of popular books in Spanish. Reference and special interest materials, newspapers, magazines and hundreds of educational books are updated regularly. Some Core classes visit the library on a weekly basis and students are encouraged to visit before school, after school, and during lunch.
After school homework help is available to all students through our Study Hall, which meets three days per week. In addition, individual teachers hold tutoring sessions at lunch, before and after school, and during our weekly 30-minute tutorial period. At-risk students are given intervention help in reading, writing, and math.
Student Support
It is the goal of Sinaloa Middle to assist students in their social and personal development as well as academics. The school gives special attention to students who experience achievement problems, difficulty coping with personal and family problems, trouble with decision making, or handling peer pressure. Sinaloa’s Dean as well as counselors, including counseling interns from the North Marin Community Services (formerly the Novato Youth Center), are available to help students.
Electives & Enrichment Activities
Each year, students have an opportunity to choose from a variety of electives to nurture their talents and interests including:
Chorus
Band
Visual Arts Appreciation
Leadership
Conversational Spanish
AVID
Visual Technical Arts CoNEXTions
In addition, a variety of enrichment activities are available to students outside of school hours, including Mathletes, Peer Coaching, Intramural Lunchtime Sports, and Track and Cross Country.
College Preparation
Sinaloa offers an elective AVID program that provides support and inspiration for students who are aiming for college as their post-secondary objective. Each year, students participating in AVID have an opportunity to visit a junior college campus, a university, or participate in college week in preparation for high school.
Parent Engagement
Sinaloa would not be the strong community it is today without our parent volunteers who raise funds, plant gardens, serve staff lunches, support our teachers and staff and help maintain a positive, nurturing environment. Parents are encouraged to join the School Site Council, Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), and English Language Advisory Committee (ELAC). Our thriving PTSA provides invaluable assistance, handling food and games at both Friendship Day and Family Fun night, organizing and decorating for the promotion dance, and running our holiday “Sinaloa Shares” program, just to give a sampling. Sinaloa also has an active ELAC committee that meets regularly and provides parents of English Language learners an opportunity to become involved in their students’ education. We also have Music Boosters, a parent support group of our Music Boosters.
Facilities
Sinaloa Middle School is located on 26.2 acres of beautifully wooded land with a meandering creek flowing beneath three footbridges used to travel to the buildings located on gently rolling terrain. Sinaloa Middle was originally constructed in 1968 and is comprised of 34 classrooms, one multi-use room (gym), one library, one food serving area, one staff lounge, and five playing areas.
Technology Resources
All students are issued a personal Chromebook. Technology integration occurs in all academic courses with computer skills and concepts taught throughout the curriculum. This focus is intended to help students achieve college and career readiness. Students have the opportunity to work with the following programs: basic word processing, basic computer research, PowerPoint, Excel, Inspiration, and Rosetta Stone (EL students), iMovie, Keynote, and a wide variety of educationally relevant applications, as well as Google based programs.
