At Simmons-Pinckney Middle School, we strive to be a cohesive team that inspires and engages all students in relevant, authentic project-based learning experiences to be college and career ready while providing a culture that empowers students to take ownership of their learning. We aspire to leave a legacy that can be followed by future team members and students. In its third year, Simmons-Pinckney has seen some great successes. We offer our scholars a rigorous curriculum in core, fine arts, and career and technology courses. We currently meet our scholars’ academic needs through our Personalized Learning Model, Project-based Learning Model and adaptive digital platforms. Students have the opportunities to participate in our after-school 21st Century Program, where students received one-on-one tutoring and academic support.
Simmons-Pinckney is intentional about aligning its vision and mission to that of Charleston County School District, as it strives to be a comprehensive, high-performing school that nurtures students, supports educators and serves its community. Simmons-Pinckney Middle School is helping all students develop world-class skills as well as life and career characteristics that are aligned with the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. Our school is a community school that provides students with a safe, caring, and engaging learning environment. Our teachers attend professional development training on a weekly basis that allows them to use best teaching practices that facilitate the learning of our students and collaborate with other students while using critical thinking skills to solve real-world problems. All of our teachers participate in weekly meetings that allow them to closely examine student data and prepare personalized learning plans in order to maximize student achievement results.
Our strengths in communicating and engaging with stakeholders are as follows: we offer our scholars a rigorous curriculum of both core and career and technology courses. In addition, students partner with professional musicians and arts and participate in fine arts programs such as strings, band, dance, leadership course, and drama. Our students gained world-class knowledge through our Personalized Learning Model, integrated digital platforms, Computer Engineer Courses, and participated in monthly Master Classes with invited speakers. Students have the opportunity to participate in our after-school program, where they received one-on-one tutoring and academic support from local colleges and community partners. Students are also offered the opportunity to participate in various field experiences and field trips to local businesses. Through our partnership with our local colleges, students were able to participate in several community projects that provided them with relevant experiences. With these opportunities, we hope our students’ gained confidence in their ability to successfully demonstrate proficiency in the workplace, college or the military.
All students have the opportunity to participate in various athletic and extracurricular activities. Our students also have the opportunity to enroll into AVID courses (Advancement Via Individual Determination), which are designed to expose and prepare students to for college and career opportunities. AVID assists us in implementing strategies including writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading (WICOR) as well as transition experiences including mentoring and college site visits to ensure all students are college and career ready.
In the 2017-2018 school year, we began two new partnerships with Education Elements and the NewTech Network and hope to see even more progress come from these initiatives. We provide all students with a chromebook to be used in the classroom. Building positive relationships with students continues to be a priority for our school through the implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) and Capturing Kids’ Hearts Model. When surveyed, 74.9% of students agreed that “students from different backgrounds get along at my school,” 87.9% of students agreed that “I am satisfied with the learning environment,” and 86.2% agreed that “I am satisfied with home-school relationships.” We surpassed the survey predictions in all of these areas and believe that with the above programs in place our scores will only continue to increase.
Our Continuous Improvement Plan objectives are to meet the learning needs of all students while preparing them for post-secondary readiness. For the past couple of years teachers have participated in staff development focused on the implementation of best instructional practices and personalized learning. Classroom observations and informal conferences with teachers demonstrate that the staff development opportunities positively impact the construction and delivery of classroom assessments. Through the utilization of common assessments teachers are able to better support student learning. Data collection and analysis in the areas of mathematics, reading, and writing are collected weekly and show an increase in the percentage of students meeting high standards on the NWEA MAP testing, SC READY, SCPASS, and school’s benchmarks. We will continue to monitor student progress and utilize data to support best instructional practices and the achievement of all students.
Nathan L. Nelson, Principal
Darrell White, SIC Chair