Dear Students, Families, Guardians, and Members of our School Community,

Welcome to a new school year at Pine River-Backus Middle School! I am honored and excited to begin my first year as your middle school principal. While this is my first year in this role, it is my 30th year in education. Over those three decades, I have had the privilege of working alongside students, teachers, families, and school communities in many different roles. 

Middle school is an important time in a student’s life. Students are growing academically, socially, and emotionally while learning to make decisions, navigate challenges, work with others, and take greater ownership of their learning and their choices. Our job is to create a school where students feel known, valued, supported, and challenged – a place where every student knows they belong and has something important to contribute.

As students move through middle school, we will continue to build upon our ROAR expectations: Responsible, Ownership, Accountable, and Respectful. ROAR gives us a common language for the behaviors and choices that help make our school a positive place to learn and grow. As students develop, we will connect these expectations to the PRB Tiger Traits: Communication, Collaboration, Adaptability, Critical Thinking, and Integrity. Our goal is to help students grow into young people who can make  good decisions, solve problems, work with others, adapt to change, communicate effectively, and act with integrity.

We cannot do this work alone. Families are an essential part of our school community, and we value the perspective, knowledge, and support you bring to your child’s education. I encourage you to communicate with us, ask questions, share concerns, celebrate successes, and partner with us when challenges arise. We will listen, communicate, and keep what is best for students at the center of our decisions.

After 30 years in education, I have learned that some of the most important things we teach students cannot be measured by a test. We teach students how to persevere, learn from mistakes, treat others with kindness and respect, solve problems, ask for help, and contribute to something larger than themselves.

That is the kind of school I want Pine River-Backus Middle School to be.

A school where students are challenged to grow, where relationships matter, where mistakes are opportunities to learn, where every student knows they belong. And a school where we work together to help our students become the capable, compassionate, and confident PRB Tigers we know they can be.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as your principal and excited for the year ahead. Thank you for being an important part of the Pine River-Backus Middle School community. I look forward to all that we will accomplish together.

Let’s make it a great year to be a Tiger!

With excitement for the year ahead,

Rachel LeFavor
Principal
Pine River-Backus Middle School