The faculty and staff of Gilbert Middle School are helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by making GMS a place where all students belong, grow, and serve. We have structures and practices in place to help all students develop a sense of belonging at GMS, creating an environment where students feel comfortable taking academic risks so that they can grow in knowledge and skills. We also want our students to grow as people, so we prepare our students to use our Habits of Character (integrity, empathy, and growth mindset) as they become active citizens who take what they have learned to serve their community in positive ways. This is accomplished through the utilization of district approved curriculum, continuous professional learning on best practices in instructional strategies, the integration of technology as a learning tool, and personalized support for struggling learners as well as extension for accelerated learners.
This year we were excited to focus on consistently implementing instructional practices designed to foster deeper learning and data-driven instruction. During professional learning sessions, GMS teachers worked in grade-level, content-specific professional learning communities (PLCs) to review a variety of data to identify students’ strengths and areas of support. We used i-Ready diagnostics to help us track student growth in reading and math. Additionally, we reviewed classroom assessments to gauge students’ mastery of grade-level standards. These tools also helped us hone in on areas of need for specific students.
This year the entire administrative team returned, with the vision of making GMS a place where we all “Belong, Grow, and Serve.” Our school counselors and administrators looped with our students. This allowed them to work closely with each other to meet the needs of students, families, and staff throughout the year. We are grateful for the commitment of our counseling office to provide support and services to all members of the GMS family.
To increase students’ sense of belonging at GMS, we continued our implementation of daily advisory classes called “Huddle.” All core and exploratory teachers taught a Huddle class two days per week. These Huddle lessons were designed by our Huddle Design Team, made up of GMS teachers, counselors, administrators, and instructional specialists. Our Huddle Design Team differentiated our Huddle lessons so that each grade level has a specific set of Huddle lessons. We also utilized structured learning time (SLC) during three advisory periods per week. On these days, teachers worked to support students’ academic growth. This included reteaching concepts to students, having students complete work, facilitating student study groups, and facilitating the use of iReady Pathways for math one day a week during Huddle time.
This year we continued our use of Habits of Character (HOC). Our HOC were designed by a team of GMS teachers and focused on the habits of integrity, empathy, and growth mindset. These HOC were the focus of Huddle lessons specifically designed to teach students about these habits, and how they align with our vision of making our school a place where we all belong, grow, and serve.
GMS students are provided opportunities to study and gain knowledge in other areas including STEM, iCivics, Family Consumer Science, visual and performing arts, physical education, and outdoor education. This year we were excited to offer a new exploratory class for 8th graders, agricultural education. This course was very popular among students and introduced them to agricultural concepts and contributions to our community.
Our students also have opportunities to explore world languages. In sixth and seventh grade, students choose from Spanish, French, or German exploratory classes. In eighth grade, students have the option of taking one of those world language classes for high school credit. We are very proud of the achievements of our students in world languages. Additionally, we have a Spanish Immersion program, in which students who successfully complete the program can earn up to three high school credits throughout their middle school career.
This year we continued to facilitate student-led conferences. Students spent several weeks in Huddle preparing presentations that focused on their goals, strengths, areas of growth, and Habits of Character. Parents came to school so that their child could present their student-led conference to them. Parents were then given a chance to ask follow-up questions about their child’s presentation. Eighty-five percent of our students had a family member come to school for their student-led conference.
In addition to opportunities in academics, GMS strives to develop the whole child by providing outstanding programs in the arts and athletics, earning consistent superior ratings in our fine arts state and regional performances, with our athletic teams also performing at high levels, consistently earning winning records in events
We are proud of our students and their accomplishments. We thank our parents and community for their support as we continue our efforts to improve the achievements of our students in the classroom and on the performance stage and in the athletic arena.
Kyle Meetze, Ed.D., Principal
Nicholas Pizzuti, SIC Chair
