Marrington Middle School of the Arts values the scholastic experience of our students. We strive to create a safe and encouraging environment. At Marrington Middle School of the Arts, ensuring students flourish in their academic and artistic endeavors is a high priority. In order to achieve these goals, we focus on the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate in a variety of ways. Through creativity, world class knowledge and the integration of life and career skills, we offer students the opportunity to discover the best in themselves.
At Marrington Middle School of the Arts, the creativity of our Fine Arts program takes center stage. Throughout the school year, our dedicated Fine Arts teachers work diligently to prepare our students to excel in the visual and performing arts. Students focus on their major in music, art, dance or theater. Students engage in multiple theatrical performances. We have band and choral concerts throughout the school year. Students have been adjudicated at state sponsored events in band, strings and chorus. These programs have earned some of the highest ratings awarded. The 2019 Marrington Middle School Talent Show was comprised of 12 acts. There was a wide assortment of acts that included individual singers, bands and short skits. The proceeds, from the tickets sold for the talent show, were used to help fund our Health and Wellness Club. Saige Shoup, one of our talented art students, was selected to be this year’s state finalist in the annual Doodle for Google contest. Saige’s achievement was celebrated in our auditorium with her entire 7th grade class in attendance. At the end of the school year, the culminating event is our musical production. This year 300 students out of 458 made the choice to participate in our musical production of Grease. The musical is performed by students and led by students. While some students are singing, dancing and acting on stage, others are working the lights, sound system or other technical aspects of the musical. Our teachers provide all the instructional support our students need to make the production a success. We strive to foster a culture of creativity where students take the leading role.
At Marrington Middle School of the Arts, our goal is to provide students with world class knowledge. Students are afforded the opportunity to learn rigorous standards, and we keep our expectations high in order to best implement our curriculum. While testing data is not the only way to measure student success, we are excited about our students’ achievements on state tests. Our 8th grade honors students had a passing rate of 100% on the end of course examination in Honors English 1 and Algebra 1. In addition, these two courses are also high school credit courses. A total of 131 Marrington Middle students took the PSAT in October 2018. We are proud to recognize five of our 7th graders as Duke TIP students as a result of their SAT/ACT scores and thirteen of our 8th graders as Junior Scholars as a result of their PSAT scores. To be in possession of world class knowledge, students must be exposed to the best technology throughout the school year. Marrington Middle School of the Arts is a 1:1 school, and we work closely with our technology coach in order to offer the best instruction for our students. The technology we utilize, such as Smartboards and Chromebooks, helps our teachers create student centered lessons that are standard driven. Students also benefited greatly from the Engaging Creative Minds Program that was offered at our school. The program is a standards based fusion of STEM and the arts. Our students and teachers participated in lessons that were fun and informative at the same time.
The staff at Marrington Middle School of the Arts recognizes the importance of integrating life and career skills into the instruction and day to day lives of students. Mr. Bell, our guidance counselor and Mrs. Galati, our career specialist, work tirelessly to give students worthwhile experiences they can use both in and out of the classroom. Students are able to explore careers via field trips to different places such as a veterinarian’s office. During this field trip, students actually were able to go into the surgical room wearing medical masks and shower caps! On our career day, many professionals from different professions are invited to share their work place knowledge with our students. The professionals give demonstrations and encourage students to ask questions about the careers that spark their interest. Our Job Shadowing Day also gives students the opportunity to actually go to a specific site of their choice so they can observe what a professional does in a particular career. Lunch and Learns, with Mr. Bell and selected business professionals from around the tri-county area, give students valuable insights into different professions during lunch time. The various clubs offered at Marrington Middle School of the Arts give students a chance to learn about themselves while providing them with skills they can use in and out of the classroom! Some of the clubs offered are yearbook, news crew, mock trial team, creative writing, newspaper, and jr. librarians. These experiences help students to become more well-rounded and enable them to explore the paths they choose to follow.
Marrington Middle School of the Arts faculty, staff, students and parents are proud of our accomplishments. In the interest of making sure all our students reach their academic and artistic goals, it is imperative to incorporate new ideas into the scholastic lives of our students! We will continue to be innovative, and we will work hard to provide the best opportunities for all our students.