Making Milwood Middle School a Safer Place for Students & Staff
Discover how Milwood, a key turnaround school in Michigan, used digital hall passes to transform student behavior and create a positive learning environment.
About Milwood Middle School
Students
600+
Grades
6-8
The Challenge
Addressing Safety and Security at a School With Behavioral Challenges
Milwood Middle School, located in a high-poverty area of Kalamazoo, Michigan, was designated as a key turnaround school for the district due to its patterns of underachievement. The school struggled to create a positive environment that was conducive to learning. The main issue was keeping students safe within the building, as kids often wandered and hid in hallways, leading to frequent fights and other disruptive activities.
In addition, the numerous exit doors made it tricky to secure the building and the chaotic hallway activity impacted teachers’ day-to-day work. Educators felt unsafe, which affected their ability to maintain order and focus on teaching—the environment called for a solution to boost safety and order to create a positive learning atmosphere.
KEY PROBLEM AREAS:
“
The main challenge was that kids were out and about all the time. We would have upwards of 20 to 30 kids just wandering the building. I surveyed my staff at the beginning of the year and asked, ‘What do you want? Where are we going to start?’ And the number one thing they said was, ‘The hallways are out of control. I don’t feel safe.’”
The Solution
Transforming School Safety to Inspire Better Behavior
To tackle the pressing hallway safety issues, Milwood Middle School adopted Minga, excited by its robust hall pass capabilities. During the initial 6-week launch, Assistant Principal Aaron Sauter guided his admin team in rolling out digital hall passes. Carefully listening to staff questions and feedback played a crucial role in ensuring the successful adoption of the new digital tools.
Milwood uses Minga daily for hall pass management, allowing students to self-select passes for restrooms, water fountains, lockers, and other essential needs — reducing unnecessary hallway traffic and conflicts. The platform has also helped to facilitate smoother interactions with parents. Now that Milwood has successfully adopted digital hall passes, they are excited to expand their usage with the Behavior module and start rewarding positive student conduct.
What Minga Offered:
“
I got it to a point where there were only 8 kids out at a time in the entire building. And I’ll never forget it, I was standing in the hallway with my Principal and I pulled up the app and said to a kid, ‘Hey, you’ve only got 27 seconds to get back to class,’ and the kid just took off! My Principal looks at me and goes, “How do you know?’ So I showed him the app and he was like, ‘All right, that’s great!’”
The Outcomes
A Safer and More Organized Learning Environment, for Both Students & Teachers
Results marked with an asterisk (*) have been taken from Milwood’s End-of-Year Teacher Survey
Increased Safety and Order
The implementation of Minga led to a 22% increase in feelings of school safety and order*. 85% of Milwood staff now feel that the school is safe*, fostering a more secure atmosphere for both teaching and learning. In addition, 88% of teachers said that ‘I feel physically safe at my school’*, an increase of 17% from the previous year.
Consistent Enforcement of Rules
Milwood now has consistent enforcement of student behavior rules, reducing the possibility of students avoiding consequences. This consistency has helped younger, newer teachers reduce their fear of conflict with students and resulted in a 27% increase in the consistent enforcement of rules* compared to the previous year, highlighting the reliability of the system.
Fair and Effective Disciplinary Practices
Minga helps ensure that all students are treated equally and fairly — the kids who could use a charming personality and a smile to get out of things couldn’t do this anymore. The school has seen a 36% rise in the fair application of disciplinary practices*, significantly enhancing students’ sense of safety.
Empowering Teachers and Enhancing Relationships
Digital hall passes empower teachers by providing a clear system for students to request permission to leave class, allowing educators to set expectations without fear of conflict. As a result, teachers enjoy improved relationships with students and feel more supported and confident.
Reduction in Referrals for Unauthorized Areas
Using a centralized digital hall pass system, Milwood has dramatically reduced the number of referrals for unauthorized areas from 158 to 43 in one year. 28/43 were written in trimester one and only 15/43 were written during trimester two and three. This 73% reduction signifies a major decrease in negative student behavior and hallway disruptions.
Improved Cleanliness and Maintenance of the School Building
The school building is now noticeably cleaner and better maintained, with a 27% improvement in cleanliness* compared to the previous year. With fewer kids running around, hanging out, and eating in the hallways, there’s significantly less litter, like bags of chips, scattered around. This has created a cleaner and more orderly environment.
“
Minga has changed the climate of the building, you can step outside of your doorway and it doesn’t feel chaotic. There used to be times when it was madness. I’d turn a corner and there’d be six kids and they just turn around and run. They weren’t being held accountable before.”
Key Results:
The following has been taken from Milwood’s End-of-Year Teacher Survey
22% increase
in feelings of school safety and order
88% of teachers
said that ‘I feel physically safe at my school’
27% increase
in the consistent enforcement of rules
27% increase
in feelings of school cleanliness
73% decrease
in referrals for unauthorized areas
36% increase
in the fair application of discipline
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