Summit Parkway Middle School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by consistently creating a learning environment that supports students gaining world class knowledge, world class skills, and life and career characteristics. Our faculty and staff supports the development of world class knowledge by adopting our shared belief which is "We believe that student success is achieved through academic rigor and engagement, behavior interventions, and social-emotional learning.” Our teachers assist in the development of world class skills by implementing a variety of instructional strategies in their classrooms. Our students grow and mature by embracing our vision which states “At Summit Parkway, students soar with pride, rising above their challenges and helping others to do the same, they glide through 6th, fly through 7th and soar through 8th believing there are no boundaries daring to be different destined to be great." Our students demonstrate this by achieving their personal best, persevering through their challenges, and having the mindset that they can achieve greatness. This develops both life and career characteristics in which they will need beyond their middle school years. They are also expected to demonstrate Eagle PRIDE in all areas, which stands for being prepared, being respectful, having integrity, being driven, and being engaged.
The faculty and staff at Summit Parkway have a history of working together to support a shared belief of collective efficacy that all students can achieve greatness as we provided individual support to both our students and families. We have dedicated our development and application of best practices to using a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) for interventions in the areas of academics, behavior, and social-emotional learning as well as implementing restorative strategies which develop relationships and build community for every class and classroom. It is a common language used among faculty and staff to foster belonging, learning, continuous improvement and joy. We offer quality teaching and learning environments providing a variety of strategies to our students as well as academic programs to ensure success. Offerings include AVID instructional strategies school-wide, which helps students in various areas such as writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading so that all students can be successful. We have implemented the 7 Mindsets character education program for several years which serves as a vehicle to engage students and adults in social-emotional learning. It also has served as a platform for professional development in the area of justice, inclusion, diversity, and equity. All of the mindsets can be implemented into various areas of the school day, such as classrooms, faculty/staff meetings, assemblies, Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and School Improvement Council (SIC) meetings. Continued use of these programs with fidelity will enhance the growth mindset of the students, parents, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community.
Our magnet program STEM Institute of Design and Innovation (SIDI) focuses on using science, technology, engineering, math, and the design thinking process so that students can experience project based learning and apply the design thinking process to produce innovative solutions. Another magnet program on our campus is Get Fit The Academy of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine, which is a structured learning community of science, social studies, english, math and specialized physical education classes each day to prepare our students to pursue careers related to the support of healthy lifestyles and to guide students in becoming role models for exemplary health and wellness. Both of our magnet programs have been nationally recognized by the Magnet Schools of America organization as a certified magnet school. We are excited to be able to provide these unique programs to continue to develop the gifts and talents of students while preparing them for the next grade level and beyond.
Professional development for teachers is provided through but not limited to various conferences and workshops that support using the district's instructional model, rigor and engagement strategies, content specific pedagogy and depth of knowledge. We will continue to provide teachers with the necessary tools to continue to develop world class skills in our students as well as to produce premier results. We received the Palmetto’s Silver Award for a number of years as a result of our student’s academic achievement on standardized testing. We will continue our efforts in this manner striving to be a school to watch closely. Additionally, our school’s brochure won the National School Public Relations Association Communications Award in the area of Marketing. We are grateful for being recognized for all of our achievements as we continue our quest of student success.
Our partner school, Center for Inquiry, (CFI) re-ignited their partnership with the University of South Carolina for the upcoming year to host educational visitors and pre-service methods classes and interns who seek to learn more about inquiry-based learning. This year they hosted teachers from around the state at the Inquiry Matters conference, a professional development conference for teachers interested in inquiry-based education. During that conference several of their fifth graders shared about their Impact Projects, the final project of the CFI experience. These are projects that involve rigorous research within a topic of interest to determine how the students can personally have an impact in the world around them. They have also started a partnership with the SIDI Magnet at Summit Parkway to develop a design and robotics team of CFI students mentored by SIDI students to compete in Lego First League STEM competitions. CFI serves the K-5 student population using inquiry-based and integrated-curricular learning methods.
