Dear Eastway Middle School Students and Families,

Welcome to Eastway Middle School, home of the Jaguars! Eastway is a neighborhood school with a partial Magnet choice, located in East Charlotte. We serve approximately 850 students in sixth-eighth grade.

At Eastway, we are very proud of the diversity of our students and staff. We come from many different states and represent more than 30 countries; we believe this makes our school a very special place. While we value our diversity, we have some important things in common. We share a passion for building relationships. We value traditions and customs. We embrace individual contributions, personalities, and perspectives. We welcome all who enter—once you arrive, you quickly become a part of the Eastway family!

At Eastway, we developed the Jaguar Pride Plan to recognize and reward our students through strategic positive reinforcement strategies. Students earn Jaguar Pride Points by demonstrating respect, responsibility, and safety, which are our three pillars of success. The points provide students with the opportunity to shop in our school store, earn a wide variety of incentives, and participate in multiple celebrations. Additionally, students receive positive referrals when they go beyond expectations and they are given the opportunity to spin the Principal’s Wheel of Wow for a multitude of incentive prizes.

Although our school is a partial magnet, we have magnetized our entire school. All teachers collaboratively plan rigorous, standards-aligned lessons that integrate the resources of our Leader in Me Magnet program. Moreover, each week, teachers use multiple data points to personalize the learning opportunities for our students. Our commitment to excellence and our dedication to a positive school culture is unmatched.

As your Principal, I am committed to ensuring an enthusiastic and positive culture, high expectations, and genuine relationships. I believe that increasing student achievement by focusing on social, emotional, and academic learning will build the foundation students need to succeed in high school and beyond.

One of my main goals is to maintain a championship team of excellent individuals (staff, students, families, and community partners) who are committed to working together to achieve common goals. Each day, our team works to:

· Capitalize on the many talents within our building, homes, and community;

· Put forth our very best effort with enthusiasm and energy;

· Analyze multiple school performance measures with strategic response; and

· Make every moment meaningful for everyone by building true and lasting relationships!

Talent, Effort with Enthusiasm & Energy, Analysis with Strategic Response, and Making Every Moment Meaningful equals TEAM!

TEAM is the focus of everything we do because it takes great commitment, effective communication, and true collaboration from everyone to build upon the greatness of our past as we strive to make Eastway the premier middle school in CMS and in North Carolina.

To be a part of our TEAM, I invite you to participate in our school community as often as you can. To do so, please register as a CMS volunteer. All volunteers must complete the registration process each year and select Eastway Middle School as the site. Additionally, please remember you must bring your ID to sign in upon entering our school as we are working diligently to keep Eastway safe for all.

Finally, I would like to tell you a little bit about me. I’m originally from Clarksburg, West Virginia, but have called Charlotte my home since 2003 when I began my journey as a teacher. I am a proud supporter of public education and have two daughters, one who graduated from a CMS school in 2019 and one who is a current CMS student. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Fairmont State University and a Master of Arts in School Leadership from Gardner-Webb University. Prior to my role as Principal of Eastway in August 2022, I served as the Principal of Idlewild Elementary School from 2014-2022. This is my twenty-first year with CMS and my tenth year as a principal—it’s my second year as the Principal of Eastway and I couldn’t be happier!

Please feel free to reach out to me at any time. I can be reached via email at larenda.denien@cms.k12.nc.us or by phone at 980-343-6410. I look forward to working with you as we focus on doing all we can to be better every day!

Thank you for choosing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Eastway Middle.

Larenda B. Denien,

Principal