On a recent Monday morning at Seaford Middle School, Principal Raphael Morey asked a small group of sixth graders to do something deceptively simple: count to 15.
There was a catch. Only one student could say each number, and if two students spoke at the same time, the group had to start over.
The students made it to nine before two voices collided. They started again. Then again. Eventually, they came close to 15.
For Morey, the exercise wasn't really about counting. It was about teaching students to listen, make eye contact, recognize nonverbal cues and understand when to speak — skills that can be just as important to a middle schooler's development as what they learn in a traditional classroom.
The exercise is part of Seaford Middle School's newly revamped advisory program, an initiative that has become one example of the school's broader commitment to continuous improvement that recently earned it international recognition.
The Association for Middle Level Education named Seaford Middle School one of 39 Schools of Distinction for 2026, recognizing schools that demonstrate best practices in middle-level education and a commitment to ongoing improvement. Seaford is one of three New York schools among this year's honorees, alongside Sayville Middle School and Woodmere Middle School.
The designation followed an extensive process that included schoolwide assessment, surveys of students and staff, continuous improvement planning and a virtual site visit during which evaluators spoke with administrators, teachers, support staff, students and parents.
For Morey, the recognition was less a surprise than an outside confirmation of what he already sees inside the building.
“You know, when we first learned about the School of Distinction accolade, it was when we went to the AMLE annual conference last year,” Morey said. “Each session we were like, ‘Oh, we do that.’”
The experience prompted the school to look closely at what it was doing well and where it could improve. One area identified through that process was advisory.
The old system met less frequently, lasted about 18 minutes and typically brought together groups of 18 to 20 students. The new model meets every Monday morning for 25 minutes, with each student assigned to a small group of roughly four to nine students and a trusted adult.
Students remain with the same advisor from sixth through eighth grade.
Morey said the goal is to create a consistent connection for students during a period of life marked by enormous physical, social and emotional changes.
“Middle school takes a family,” Morey said. “It takes every single person to be thoroughly invested in their kids.”
Each advisory begins with an emotional check-in. Students might share one new or good thing that happened during the previous week or describe their mood through a “weather report.”
The group then completes a community-building activity before moving into a lesson, which can cover everything from social-emotional topics to practical skills students will need as they progress through middle school.
The curriculum was developed by teachers after the school asked educators what skills students needed to have before advancing to the next grade. Some were as basic as knowing how to send a properly structured email, print a document or navigate a OneDrive folder.
Instead of individual teachers having to stop their lessons to teach those skills when a need arose, the advisory program gives the school a way to address them consistently.
And Morey is already seeing the relationship-building component take hold.
During the first advisory meetings, the sixth graders in his group — students who had come from different elementary schools — were reluctant to speak to one another or share anything in front of the group.
By the third meeting, that had changed.
“They're talkative, they're making eye contact, they're comfortable with each other, they're helping each other,” Morey said.
That seemingly small change is exactly what Morey hopes the program will cultivate: students who feel connected not only to their closest friends, but to the larger school community.
“It doesn't mean they have to be your best friends,” he said. “But in the building, you have kids who are part of your extended community, are part of your extended family.”
The emphasis on relationships extends beyond the students. Morey said teachers, administrators and other staff members are encouraged to see themselves as trusted adults who can help students navigate both academics and the challenges of adolescence.
“If you walk through, it's a middle school,” Morey said. “But what you don't get unless you sit and actually allow yourself to hear how teachers and students interact with each other is the true community that has been established.”
That culture, he said, is what makes the recognition meaningful.
“It was like an external confirmation of what I just already knew,” Morey said. “We were all very fortunate to work amongst such great people.”
The school will be formally recognized during AMLE's 53rd Annual Conference for Middle Level Education in Nashville in November. Morey, Assistant Principal Joseph Polite and teachers Shannon Digney and Carly Frank, along with Superintendent Dr. Adele Pecora, will also present a workshop at the conference about how shared leadership and committees have helped turn staff ideas into initiatives that strengthen teaching, learning and school culture.
For Morey, however, the most rewarding part of the new advisory system may come years from now.
He and the other advisors will follow their students from sixth through eighth grade, giving them the opportunity to watch the children who are just getting comfortable in the middle school grow into young adults preparing for high school.
“You're going to really develop extremely strong relationships with kids as you see them grow year over year,” Morey said. “You're going to go with them from elementary kids down to now they're going to high school.”
AMLE's Schools of Distinction recognition lasts for four years, after which schools must reapply, with continuous improvement expected throughout the cycle.
