Tefft Middle School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Tefft Middle School

principal = Lavonne Smiley
assistant principal = David Harshbarger
deans assistant = Anthony Coleman
police laison = Joseph King
established = Unknown
motto =
type = Public middle
grades = 7-8
city = 1100 Shirley Avenue
Streamwood
state = Illinois
country = USA
enrollment = Unknown
faculty = Unknown
campus = Suburban
newspaper =
yearbook =
mascot = Trojans
colors = Purple and White
website = [http://www.u-46.org/tms/ www.u-46.org/tms]
picture =

Tefft Middle School is a middle school that educates 7th and 8th graders located at 1100 Shirley Avenue in Streamwood, Illinois. It is a part of School District U46. As of 2008, Tefft serves over 900 students. The principal of Tefft is Lavonne Smiley, the vice principal is David Harshbarger. The dean's Assistant is Anthony Coleman. Tefft also has an on-duty police liaison officer.

Special programs

Tefft Middle School has several special programs. Tefft has special classes for students who are Hard of Hearing (HOH). It also is one of a few middle schools in U-46 that houses a SWAS (School Within A School) program. SWAS is a program for gifted students. New students are put in each year.

History

Tefft Middle school is named after the Tefft Family. The Teffts were an important family in Elgin history. The family helped to begin a major farming industry in the Elgin and Hanover Township area 1835 through the late 1840s. Later in 1852 Phineas Smith hauled milk via an ox team to Elgin which was then sent to Chicago on the Galena and Chicago Union railroad. The railroad was built in 1850. Tefft began as the school district's first junior high school and later became a middle school.

Houses of learning

Tefft divides its students up into groups called houses (commonly referred to as "cores" or "teams"). All the students in the same house share the same teachers (the only exceptions are physical education and rotation teachers). These are the different houses:

* Athena - includes both 7th and 8th graders.
* Atlantis - includes only 7th graders.
* Atlas - includes both 7th and 8th graders.
* Gladiators - includes both 7th and 8th grade "SWAS" students.
* Pegasus - includes only 8th grade students.
* Titans - includes only 7th grade students.
* Zeus - includes only 8th grade students.

Extracurricular activities

Like most U46 schools, Tefft offers several extracurricular activities.

Music

Students at Tefft have the opportunity to play in the school band or orchestra. As of 2006, students also have the option to join an in-school choir. The Tefft band is directed by Daniel Dorotiak, the Tefft orchestra by Donna Garcia, and the Tefft Choir by David Hain. Band, orchestra, and chorus members are not able to participate in rotation classes.

Rotation classes

Students who do not take band, orchestra, or chorus along with the five "core" classes (Social Studies/History, English, Reading, Math and Science) take "rotation" classes. These classes last six weeks and include drama/speech, music in 7th grade and Spanish in 8th grade, art, family and consumer sciences, industrial education, and computers.

Sports

Tefft students can participate in sports. In the fall boys can play American football and girls can play volleyball. In the early winter and late winter, students can play on the Tefft basketball team. The sports teams play the teams of all the other middle schools in the district. Tefft and nearby Eastview Middle School and Canton Middle School have a small rivalry, due to their close proximity to each other. The boys and girls 7th grade basketball team of 2006 won the district championship, going 13-1 for both genders. This past year, the Tefft eighth graders shared a basketball championship with rivals, Eastview Middle School.

Feeder schools

Student attending Tefft come from several different feeder schools. Students from either Heritage, Parkwood, Glenbrook, Horizon, or Sunnydale Elementary Schools attend Tefft after completing 6th grade. SWAS students can come from "home" schools throughout the southwestern part of the district including Sycamore Trails Elementary. After completing 8th grade, Tefft students will attend Streamwood High School. Students who attended Horizon Elementary School and Ontarioville Elementary School will attend Bartlett High School. Some students will attend South Elgin High School.

Students who apply for educational academies in 8th grade will attend the high school where the academy is housed such as Bartlett High School (science/engineering), Elgin High School (general gifted), South Elgin High School (media/web), Streamwood High School (languages), or Larkin High School (performing arts).

External links

* [http://www.u-46.org/tms/index.cfm Tefft's website]

See also

* Elgin Area School District U46