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. As a comprehensive middle school, we are dedicated to the tenants of discovery and exploration as they develop into mature young people. 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 provide our students with an opportunity to take high school credit classes in English 1, Algebra 1, Geometry, German, Spanish, and select computer science electives. Kennedy Middle School also continued the first ever NJROTC program at the 8th grade level in the state of South Carolina. The NJROTC Program has been extremely successful and is expected to continue its success for many more years. 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. Also, through the school's districts Attributes of a Premier Student, Kennedy Middle School awarded students and staff through its Eagle Shout Out program 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 continued on its journey through personalized learning this school year. Through a blended learning model of allowing every student to have a laptop, KMS teachers were trained to implement 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. Kennedy Middle School students learned to make personal learning goals through the use of their quarterly monitoring rubric. Earning a successful score on their rubric qualified them for the quarterly celebration after each nine weeks.
Kennedy will introduce Capturing Kid's Hearts (CKH) as its premier culture-building initiative in the building during the 2024 - 2025 school year. CKH is designed to serve in relationship building while providing a template for how each class begins, concludes, and how classroom culture is honed and maintained through a social contract. This system-wide approach will begin during the student's 6th grade year (intermediate school) and continue through graduation as it is implemented in three different schools along the student's journey.
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, Spelling Bee, Junior Scholar Program, and Duke TIP (7th grade). During the 21-22 school year, KMS's Math Counts team won the regional championship with a 1st place win and went onto to compete in the state competition. These academic honors and participation demonstrate Kennedy's focus on critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. In sports, both the football and golf team won the district championship, and the boys basketball team were runners up.
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
