Our School

Pauline Flett Middle School is a comprehensive 6-8 middle school situated in NW Spokane near the Spokane River and is part of Spokane Public Schools. Flett is named after Pauline Pascal Flett, a Spokane Tribal member who has been credited with helping save the Salish language. The mission of Pauline Flett Middle School is to create a gathering place where all are seen and empowered to be dreamers, ambitious learners, and involved global citizens. We strive to support the whole-child, which means ensuring we have structures to help students succeed academically and socially. Our school is organized into neighborhoods. A neighborhood is made up of smaller groups of students who have the same four teachers for advisory, math, science, ELA, and social studies. This allows staff and students to get to know and support each other more effectively. We also have a House System we call the League of Four - this structure is another way for students to grow socially and be supported by additional staff. 

We see middle school as an opportunity for students to grow their independence and explore new interests through electives, clubs, and sports. We continue to expand our offerings of all three. Learn more about our registration process here. Students sign up for clubs and sports through one system called FinalForms here. Want to suggest a club, lead a club or coach a sport? Contact our Athletics Coordinator Sarah Goodey.

Flett Middle School was among the projects included in the November 2018 voter-approved $495.3 million bond. In addition, Spokane Public Schools re-drew its school boundaries to plan for the 6-8 grade model in its middle schools.

Program Design

How will the middle school experience change with the addition of sixth graders to the student body? A Middle School Design Work-Group, comprised of students, parents, staff, and administrators developed guiding principles that will shape the middle school experience for students. These principles were adopted by the SPS School Board. Following the hiring of Dr. Matthew Henshaw as the school's principal, a 15-member planning team was hired about three years earlier. This team was made up of SPS staff representing all aspects of running a school including teachers, office, nursing, and custodial staff. The team set aside time to develop a mission statement, which has been used to guide current and future planning. The design team then worked with NAC to design the facility to meet the needs of students and reflect the program and facility design principles. 

Facility Design

Designing new middle schools provides a chance to think about what works well and what could be improved in our school buildings. We started the visioning process in January with a Student Visioning Workshop for New Middle Schools, which included 30 current eighth and ninth graders. Then, in February, a Community Facility Design Forum for New Middle Schools was held to include more than 90 staff, parents, students, administrators, and community members with provocateurs from across the country stretching our thinking about new middle school designs. Lastly, we held a three-day Design Summit, funded by the Schmidt Foundation, on imagining innovative schools. Find the report from the Design Summit here. Learn more here.

Timelines

A phased approach to middle school replacements has many benefits:

• Shaw and Glover replaced – 2021-22
  • Takes advantage of state construction matching funds
  • Leverages existing staff for planning
  • Provides an additional year to plan, staff and budget for new schools
  • Provides additional time to change school boundaries
• Denny Yasuhara MS (northeast) and Pauline Flett MS (northwest) opening for the 2022-23 school year. 
  • Building both new schools at the same time reduces feeder pattern complexity and allows for moving all north side 6th graders into middle school at the same time
  • Relieves overcrowding at 22 of the school district’s 34 elementary schools
• Sacajawea and Carla Peperzak middle schools built – 2023-24
  • Replacing Sacajawea and opening the new Carla Peperzak Middle School concurrently allows for moving all south side 6th graders into middle school at the same time
  • Relieves overcrowding at the remaining 12 elementary schools