Kennedy Middle School is devoted to helping its students develop the world-class skills and life and career characteristics (as outlined in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate) by providing a safe, caring, and academically challenging learning environment. Our students are challenged to excel in today’s society with the support of parents, highly qualified educators, support staff, and our community.
At Kennedy Middle we are dedicated to building and maintaining a culture of high expectations by challenging our students with instructional best practices to help them reach their full potential. We have a talented and dedicated staff, and one hundred percent of our faculty is highly qualified. Through the continuous efforts of our faculty and staff, students and community partners, our students rise to the expectations in various ways. We have implemented a collaborative, co-teaching model in some of our mathematics and English classrooms. We also provide our students with an opportunity to take high school credit classes in English 1, Algebra 1, Geometry, German, French, Spanish, and select computer science electives. This year Kennedy Middle School also piloted the first ever JROTC program at the 8th grade level in the state of South Carolina. The JROTC Program has been extremely successful and is expected to double in size next school year. KMS likewise had a number of students selected to enroll in the prestigious Aiken Scholar's Academy for their chance to earn college credit in high school through USC-Aiken, a local 4 year university. Likewise, through the school's districts Attributes of a Premier Student, Kennedy Middle School awarded students and staff through its Eagle Shout Out character integration by allowing students to be recognized for demonstrating perseverance, tech-focus, being involved in the school, being academically engaged, demonstrating self-discipline, and more.
Kennedy Middle School embarked on its journey through personalized learning during the 2020-2021 school year. Through a blended learning model of allowing every student to have a laptop, select KMS teachers were trained to implement more of a student-centered environment within each classroom. KMS wants students to have choice in how they express themselves on assessments and how they learn as we know a one-size-fits-all model does not serve every child. Personalized learning, along with blended learning, will infuse technology into the classroom while serving students on a specific learning pathway that is catered to the individual child. Continued professional development will allow more teachers within the school to implement this model into the future.
Not only have Kennedy students excelled academically, students have also excelled in fine arts and extra-curricular activities. KMS students have participated in the Aiken County Academic Team Competition, Math Counts Competition, Future City Competition, Spelling Bee, Junior Scholar Program, and Duke TIP (7th grade). One of Kennedy's Future City Teams won also 2nd place overall in the region and another team won 3rd place. These academic honors and participation demonstrate Kennedy's focus on critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. In sports, our volleyball team won the county championship, and our girl's basketball team were runner-ups in the county.
Maintaining a strong connection with parents, community organizations, and businesses to help our students reach their goals and achieve at high levels is a priority for Kennedy Middle School. The school partnered with community agencies, area businesses, and local churches to provide college, career and technology exploration opportunities. The Kennedy Middle PTO and SIC is very active in their participation within the school community as well.
Dr. Ryan Ashley, Principal