White Knoll Middle School is helping all students develop the world-class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing a challenging academic program delivered by competent and caring professionals in an engaging classroom environment. Our mission at WKMS is to empower each child to design the future. To reach that goal, we have established several key priorities: to continue to improve school climate with a focus on “Capturing Kids’ Hearts”; to provide excellent instruction with a high level of student engagement in all classes every day; and to strive for continuous improvement.
At the heart of all of our efforts is relationships. We believe that in order to achieve our goals we must develop caring relationships among students, staff and parents. This past school year we focused on our goal to improve school climate by fully implementing the principles of the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program. These principles include greeting students at our doors, celebrating good things together, building social contracts in our classrooms, using schoolwide signals, and affirming each other’s good work and character. Our entire teaching staff received Capturing Kids’ Hearts training in June of 2018 and we look forward to continuing this important journey this school year. We have also worked together to build a culture of kindness throughout our building through the use of a kindness curriculum in our “SOARING” time. In addition, we welcome all opportunities to work together with our parents and community.
In our classrooms, we have been working to implement high-impact teaching and learning strategies centered on the principles of the workshop model of instruction. Our teachers have grown professionally through team-learning opportunities, collaborative planning and coaching cycles facilitated by our literacy coach and our digital literacy coach. Next year we are excited to add a math instructional coach to our teacher support staff. Throughout the building and across the day, we are seeing students actively engaged in class through focused direct instruction, individual and collaborative student work, teacher conferencing, and use of excellent digital content. We were also fortunate this past year to be one of 100 schools nationwide participating in the Dynamic Learning Project, a national program supported by Digital Promise, Google and EdTechTeam that aims to improve education equity by empowering teachers to leverage technology in more powerful ways. Through our participation, our teachers have received excellent coaching and professional learning opportunities. This work has directly and positively impacted our students in the classroom. We are fortunate to have eager students, skilled teachers, quality instructional coaches and hands-on Central Services support working together to grow as a community of learners.
In addition to our core classes, we offer students an array of opportunities in fine arts and performing arts including art, band, chorus, dance, drama and orchestra. Three-fourths of our students participate in our arts programs. Our students also have the opportunity to learn and explore through participation in PE, family and consumer science, Gateway to Technology, and computer science. We were excited this year to begin our participation in Code To The Future. Approximately half of our students were able to have a significant coding experience through participation in computer science and Gateway to Technology. We are also proud to offer our students opportunities to compete in athletics through the sports we sponsor at our school and by joint participation in White Knoll High School athletic programs. Approximately 20% of our students participate in interscholastic athletics at the middle school, junior varsity and varsity levels.
Across the curriculum and throughout the school day, we also focus on student leadership. Our Student Council and other student organizations were active this year in school activities, leadership and fundraising. Service projects included fundraisers for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Relay For Life, Hoops for Heart and Mission Lexington. Our school newsletter and yearbook were student-produced. Students also took the lead in all of our major gatherings, including awards programs, curriculum nights, orientations, and arts and athletic events. At all of our school events, we strive to highlight student voices.
This past year, WKMS again hosted several important academic events including a VEX Robotics Qualifier event, the SC Speech and Theatre Association Middle School Festival, and the SC Music Educators Association Solo and Ensemble Festival.
Our care for our students is reflected in our counseling initiatives, our focus on good communication, and our excellent parent and community involvement. Our school counseling office has been named a Recognized American School Counselor Association Model Program, our PTSA provides wonderful support for students and staff, and the School Improvement Council gives us valuable insight and suggestions for continuous improvement. Parent attendance at our programs, participation in conferences and communication with teachers, counselors and administrators are all exemplary.
As we look forward to the upcoming school year, we are excited about building on these initiatives. We will continue to refine our instructional program with a focus on student engagement and quality instructional coaching and support. We are also working to improve our classroom libraries and our focus on literacy across the curriculum. Additionally, we look forward to leveraging a revamped schedule that will provide more time for students in our core classes of ELA, math, science and social studies.
We are proud of our students and staff, and we know we are fortunate to work with awesome parents in such a great community. Together we are working to accomplish our school and district mission of cultivating a caring community where ALL learners are extraordinary communicators, collaborators, creators, and critical thinkers.
Guy Smith, Principal
Lacy Thompson, SIC Chair