Westview Middle School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina graduate by encouraging students to use various sources and learn independently, to become fervent and critical readers and to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In a world of constant change, students must be given the tools to adapt, persevere through challenges and rise above those obstacles to achieve success. Students begin to cultivate these world-class skills at Westview in hopes that they continue to develop throughout the next steps in preparation for becoming South Carolina graduates.
Each class at Westview Middle School is entrenched in the South Carolina standards, with the school culture promoting even further academic and personal growth for the individual student. The importance of teaching standards from bell to bell and reading cannot be overstated, and at Westview, teachers and students are required and encouraged to focus on standard mastery and growing a love for reading throughout the day. There is an expectation for reading before first period during homeroom, when each student reads independently and critically, and are held accountable by teachers and the Accelerated Reader (AR) program. In the AR program, students earn points for reading works on their level and taking a quiz after each text. Our Titans work hard to reach goals of AR points and receive quarterly rewards when those goals are met in order to celebrate growth as students close the achievement gap by becoming better readers having gained greater comprehension and understanding of the text.
During the 2024-2025 school year, the core classes at Westview focused on students finding and citing sources as well as focusing on inquiry based standards during library time. Students met regularly with our Media Specialist to learn effective ways to search for resources, the various available resources and the reliability of the resources. Students utilized these skills to support their theories and opinions in multiple projects, research papers and presentations in multiple core classrooms - an exercise that will definitely be important as they continue to progress into high school and beyond.
Problem-solving is a lifelong skill, and the students at Westview get plenty of experience, especially in math and science classrooms. Critical thinking and problem-solving seem to be skills naturally taught, developed and refined in math classes. Still, Westview students get hands-on experiences in lab science courses and other electives. Fundamentals of Computing, Coding, App Creators and a multitude of Project Lead the Way classes entice students to discover and promote higher-order and metacognitive thinking. These skills are of the utmost importance for the 21st-century learner and are at the center of a successful South Carolina graduate.
All Westview Middle School students are pushed by the standards-based curriculum, rigorous classes, and high expectations. All students can earn high school credit in the Fundamentals of Computing classes, while GT and STEMS students can earn English 1 and Algebra 1 credits. This year, one hundred percent of eighth-grade students taking Algebra 1 passed the South Carolina end-of-course exam.
Each staff member at Westview is personally invested in the success of our students, including our administrative assistants, custodial and support staff, teachers and administrators. The welcoming, family atmosphere makes this school a special place to develop and grow our students, preparing them with the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina graduate.
Eric Syswerda, Principal
