Tall Pines STEM Academy began its fifth year during the 2020-2021 academic school year. This coincided with the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. Along with the trials of beginning school in a full virtual model, the school also expanded by doubling its 5th and 6th-grade student numbers from 48 per grade level to 96. The student population increased from 192 students during the 2019-2020 school year to 288 students for the 2020-2021 school year. This expansion was the initial phase of a schoolwide increase in population that will continue over the next two school years until the school reaches a total number of 388 students.
Serving students in several different ways throughout the school year was a difficult task. However, the staff at Tall Pines STEM Academy met the challenge head-on and the students did the same. The school year began with a full virtual model and then transitioned into a two-day hybrid schedule. Following the hybrid schedule, the students began a four-day per week schedule until finally moving to a regular five-day per week schedule. This all took place while serving students who remained at home through live streaming and virtual instruction.
Students showed improvements academically, physically, and socially during the year in both our in-person and virtual learning. The teachers at Tall Pines STEM Academy went above and beyond to bring academic instruction and physical fitness activities to our students. They did this while continuing to build relationships with those they serve. Our mission is to provide an option for families where STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is intertwined in the school’s culture and prepares middle school students to become the next generation of ethical leaders. Tall Pines STEM Academy provides a combination of classroom and outdoor learning experiences to engage students, promote wellness and physical fitness, inspire creativity, foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and cultivate citizenship and leadership skills through rigorous and relevant content and projects in a natural setting.
Tall Pines STEM Academy's innovative model is ideal for students who want to experience success outside the traditional middle school setting in a small, hands-on learning environment with a rigorous curriculum based on teamwork. With teachers as facilitators instead of conveyors of knowledge, our student-centered curriculum shifts the responsibility for learning to the student and encourages each learner to be responsible for his or her own academic success. Our students thrive in this school environment.
We understand that the knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired in the middle school years will be the foundation for future learning. Our school is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by fostering creativity and innovation in every classroom through projects where students must use critical thinking and problem solving to find solutions to real-world problems. Our classrooms promote critical thinking and problem solving instead of rote memorization and copying notes. Students are well-versed in collaboration and teamwork as they are seated in group formations and learn how to support each other through activities specifically designed to promote leadership. Every classroom is equipped with one-to-one technology, as students practice communication through gathering information via media and technology. Tall Pines emphasizes knowing how to learn over simple learning.
Through meaningful field excursions, students can relate what they're learning to real-world situations and see firsthand career opportunities that utilize subject-specific content standards. We believe that student learning must include experiences outside the classroom to be authentic, and our teachers do a phenomenal job in finding appropriate opportunities.
We look forward to seeing our students achieve even greater goals, as we truly prepare them to be tomorrow's leaders in Aiken, South Carolina, the United States, and the world.
Brad Siedschlag, Principal
Mandy Sims, Board Chair
