Ralph Chandler Middle School helps all students with the development of world class skills and life and career characteristics, as outlined in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. We continue to provide a family-friendly environment focused on learning and student achievement. To that end, our staff works collaboratively to provide students with rigorous, hands-on learning experiences. Our students consistently meet or exceed district and state expectations on norm-referenced and state assessments.
Our teachers continue to participate in professional development in order to best serve our students. They regularly utilize differentiated instruction, instructional technology, and student-centered practices to engage and meet the needs of diverse learners. Our students have access to a variety of technology, including Chromebooks that provide a technology rich experience in our 1:1 personalized learning initiative. We complemented our Chromebooks with three Virtual Reality Labs through Google Expeditions which take our students on journey’s otherwise closed to them. The Media Center serves as our hub of learning, with collaborative planning and Lib Guides used to demonstrate the importance of quality and useful instruction and research. Our MakerSpace in our Media Center emphasizes collaboration, innovation, and creativity for our students and staff.
We provide advisory lessons and utilized lesson from Common Sense Media to educate our students and staff on Digital Citizenship. Teachers make use of Nearpod to deliver these lessons which form the foundation for discussions with our students about character traits, habits and decision-making, and functioning as responsible citizens in a digital world. We provide various clubs and Related Arts options to promote engagement and give students a voice in our school. This year we added an instructional intervention program during the school day to provided targeted support to our student population. Specifically, we implemented reading interventions for our Special Education population using System 44/Read 180. Next year we will launch a program for additional students not specified as Special Education who may benefit from additional reading interventions. We continued to implement our school-wide incentive program focused on students who display PRIDE: Persistence, Responsibility, Innovation, Dedication, and Enthusiasm.
Our Counseling Department educates students on career options through the use of Naviance. Naviance helps students and their families plan a pathway to high school and beyond. The Counseling Department also provides small group and individual counseling sessions, and the creation of Individual Graduation Plans for high school. In addition, our school offers individual and family counseling through a collaborative relationship with Piedmont Mental Health. Our Counseling team began the development of a comprehensive counseling program for our school which focuses on utilizing techniques to develop the whole child. Our Counseling team facilitates several age appropriate programs throughout the year including on-site workshops on Bullying, Erin's Law, and the Julie Valentine Center. This past year we added a program in collaboration with Safe Harbor.
Our community offers tremendous support to our school. Parents attend school events, serve on the SIC and PTA and work diligently to develop two-way communication with school staff. We aim to keep parents and the community informed and involved as we continue to create learning experiences that are challenging, meaningful and engaging for students. Our faculty, administration, and community members have helped shape students to exemplify our motto: “Responsible, Challenged and Motivated to Succeed”. Through strong communication and collaboration, we have provided creative and critical thinking experiences, essential organizational tools, and real world experiences so our students are college and career ready. We are grateful for the district and community support in making our school an excellent place to prepare children for a bright future. This past year through collaboration with our community partners we completed a review and update of our schools Mission and Vision as part of our AdvancEd Accreditation.
Listed below are a few ways our school has enhanced the development of students’ world class skills:
- The PTSA continues to support a campaign to outfit our classroom spaces to reflect a more flexible and collaborative learning environment.
- The PTSA has developed what we hope to be an annual Family Fun night at the school. This event aims to draw the whole community in for an evening of games, rides, food, and fun.
- The Beta Club and Student Council collaborated on a canned food drive, Quarters for Christmas, the Giving Tree, and Relay for Life. Finally, our Beta Club achieved National Beta School of Merit status for providing students experiences in leadership development and service involvement.
- Our Science department launched a new Hydroponics Lab which was supported by our STEAM Girls club. This lab provided food for several food banks and will begin next year to serve food grown by our students in the school cafeteria.
- This school year we fully staffed our Fine Arts department with a full time Strings, Band, and Chorus teacher. In our first year, all three programs earned superior ratings in multiple adjudicated performances.
Jeff Jenkins, Principal
Candace Strickland, SIC Chair
