The faculty and staff of Beechwood Middle School help all students learn, grow and excel. We foster a learning environment that places relationships at the core of student success. We support the development of our early adolescents as they become well-rounded citizens of our community. Together, we work to prepare all students for the post-secondary opportunities they desire by providing a rigorous, inquiry-based, holistic and globally minded course of study that is enhanced by serving others. This is the essence of our motto, “Lead Locally, Serve Globally.”

Our academic achievements are a testament to our Bengals being knowledgeable, creative thinkers and problem-solvers, and independent learners.

• 21 South Carolina Junior Scholars

• 117 rising 7th-grade students inducted into the Junior Beta Club

• 10 Bengals earned a perfect score on the 2024 SC READY assessment

• 100% of 8th-grade students were enrolled in a high school credit-bearing course

• The percentage of students who met their typical growth target in iReady Reading increased from 66.4% to 69.9% for the 2024–25 school year; the percentage of students who met their stretch growth target in iReady Reading increased from 30.8% to 33.8% in the 2024–25 school year

• The percentage of students who met their typical growth target in iReady Math increased from 59.4% to 62.7% for the 2024–25 school year; the percentage of students who met their stretch growth target in iReady Math increased from 23.4% to 24.6% in the 2024–25 school year

Our artistic and athletic achievements exemplify our Bengals’ commitment to being collaborators, communicators and resilient.

• Dance team earned first place in two competitions

• Orchestra earned “Superior” at Concert Performance Assessment

• 17 students selected for district Honors Orchestra

• 19 students earned chairs in District Honor Band and 14 students earned chairs in the Region Two Honor Band

• Band earned “Superior with Distinction” at CPA

• Band earned straight “Superior” rating at the Charleston Music Festival

• Band won SCBDA Outstanding Performance Award for the fourth consecutive year

• Two students were selected for SC ACDA Honor Choir

• Musical theater students performed “Singin’ in the Rain” 

• BMS Special Olympians competed in four games and won 1st place in basketball, bocce, cornhole and the 4x100 relay

• Cheerleading earned second place in the Debbie Rogers Cheer Classic competition

• More than 60 Bengals participated in Run Hard

• Girls Track earned first place in the LexTen Track Championship; boys track earned 2nd place

• Girls basketball team earned North Division Championship and the Lex10 conference Championship 

• Four BMS archers qualified for the state archery competition and one archer earned a bronze medal at the Swamp Shootout

• 7th-grade BMS volleyball was first in the region and 8th-grade BMS volleyball second in the region

• Our robotics team earned 2nd place, and were awarded for creativity and innovation in a regional tournament

We are dedicated to helping our students plan for life after middle school, providing opportunities for them to be independent learners who are future-ready literate. One hundred percent of our 8th-grade students completed their Individual Graduation Plan with a school counselor and a parent. 

We are grateful for the ceaseless dedication and talent of our faculty and staff both inside and outside of the classroom.

• A Spanish teacher was awarded the Best of the South Carolina Fellowship of Language Teachers & Advocates 2025

• A 6th-grade social studies teacher was accepted as a member of the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust Teacher Fellowship program

• A world geography teacher presented at the inaugural Farm to School Summit

• A world geography teacher and the principal were recognized as “Upstanders” by the Charleston Jewish Federation

• A science teacher presented at the University of South Carolina 2025 Inquiry Matters conference

BMS was named a GreenStep Certified School and earned the School of the Year award from the same environmental program. We are a 2024 America’s Healthiest School award recipient and earned a place on the USDA’s People’s Gardens map due to the work of our Project Citizen club.

BMS has an established tradition of service. We continue to build strong family and community partnerships, and empower our students to research significant local and global issues so that they may take action. This results in young people who are kind, creative thinkers and problem-solvers, and personally and socially responsible citizens. Some ways in which our students demonstrated our commitment to serving globally included:

• Donated more than $16,000, more than 900 books, more than 100 games and countless writing journals to Cane Creek Middle School in North Carolina to support their recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene

• Donated more than $700 to Linking Lexington to support cancer research and awareness

• Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) completed a food drive to support families in need at Thanksgiving

• Cheer Club partnered with Leeza’s Care Connection to provide more than 100 essential items to support families and caregivers

• Project Citizen partnered with Home Instead to support their “Be a Santa to a Senior” program

• Student Council donated requested items to Pawmetto Lifeline and Carolina Wildlife Center

• As part of our Read Across America celebration, donated more than $250 to “We Are Creed” to support nationwide literacy

• Donated more than $4,000 as a result of the Miss Beechwood Pageant to Sistercare, a nonprofit that provides services and advocacy for survivors of domestic violence

• Hosted the first Holocaust Remembrance community event featuring a guest speaker and “Stars Without a Heaven” panel display

• Hosted the first community Middle School Summit featuring Representative Paula Rawl Calhoon

We remain grateful for the active involvement and support of our Parent Teacher Organization. Our PTO funded six teachers grants to support the purchase of materials and technology tools that served to improve our educational environment.

The School Improvement Council supported a positive school culture by honoring an 8th-grade student who exemplified the characteristics of the Lexington One Graduate Profile and a commitment to “Lead Locally, Serve Globally.” 

We remain committed to making real-life, holistic, global connections with our instructional content through field studies and guest speakers. We engaged students in an eighth-grade class trip to Washington, D.C., a Veterans Day ceremony which included our state’s Attorney General as a guest speaker, and multiple guest speakers. Our students and community were able to learn from a child of Holocaust survivors and engage in an on-site exhibit that described the experience of children during the Holocaust.

Our Bengal Broadcasting team delivered a daily news show that set the tone for our school community. We continued quarterly celebrations of our students and faculty/staff through “Beech Vibes,” and celebrated with the “Bengal Beat” as a unified way to honor one another. We continued to implement culture-building activities such as school spirit weeks sponsored by our Student Council and LOCC club as well as schoolwide send-offs for our Special Olympians.

BMS is a caring community dedicated to raising the next generation of leaders, innovators and compassionate citizens. Our achievements are thanks to the hard work of our students, the dedication of our faculty and staff, and the support from our families and community.

Leah Sarantopoulos, Principal

Rosalind Thompson, SIC Chair