The faculty and staff of Gilbert Middle School are committed to developing in our students world-class knowledge and skills. We strive to prepare our students to use the characteristics of integrity, self-direction, perseverance and effective interpersonal skills as they become active citizens in our global community. This is accomplished through the utilization of district approved curriculum, continuous professional learning on best practices in instructional strategies, the integration of technology as a learning tool, and personalized support for struggling learners as well as extension for accelerated learners.
Students at GMS receive standards-based instruction delivered through a blended model. Through direct whole and small group instruction, peer to peer collaborative activities, and integrated digital resources, teachers are able to meet the individual needs of all students. Professional learning designed to enhance teachers’ effectiveness implementing blended learning strategies is ongoing.
This year we were excited to be one of fifty schools in the country chosen to be a part of the Dynamic Learning Project (DLP), a partnership between Digital Promise, Google for Education and EdTechTeam. The Dynamic Learning Project seeks to improve education equity and student learning by supporting teachers with classroom coaching in an effort to better leverage technology in powerful and meaningful ways. Survey and achievement data indicate the DLP is having a positive impact on instruction and student learning at GMS.
In preparation for the implementation of the South Carolina Teaching Standards 4.0 rubric, our teachers focused on three areas of the rubric as part of our professional learning plan. The areas of focus include activities and materials, thinking, and academic feedback. It is our belief that activities and materials must support lesson objective(s), are challenging, elicit different levels of thinking with rigor at each level, and provide differentiation to meet the needs of individual learners. Considering blended learning strategies, activities and materials provide opportunities for student-to-student interaction and teacher-to-student interaction (face to face and/or digitally). Learning together, our teachers plan collaboratively with each other and with our instructional coaches to discuss and develop learning targets, activities and materials best suited for lessons, analyze student work to determine next steps for individual learners, and reflect on student achievement.
To best meet the needs of our students, GMS implements a variety of strategies designed to provide the support necessary for learning to occur. For qualifying students in English language arts and or math, GMS provides Response to Intervention services. All students, regardless of ability level have access to multiple digital resources. Adaptive programs and resources enable teachers to provide students with more personalized support based on individual needs. Star 360 assessment data provide teachers with students’ current levels of performance in the areas of math and English language arts.
GMS students are provided opportunities to study and gain knowledge in other areas including STEM, iCivics, Family Consumer Science, visual and performing arts, and physical education. Our student are excelling in their studies of world languages. As a core subject, world language classes meet each day for the entire year. Entering sixth grade students choose from Spanish, French, German, and Latin the language they will study during their middle school year. We are very proud of the achievement of our students in world languages.
In addition to opportunities in academics, GMS strives to develop the whole child by providing outstanding programs in the arts and athletics. We are proud of the consistent superior ratings our fine arts students receive at state and regional performances. Our athletic teams also perform at high levels, consistently earning winning records. This year we celebrated with our archery team as they qualified for the National Archery in Schools tournament in Louisville, Kentucky.
We are proud of our students and their accomplishments. We want to thank our parents and community for their support as we continue our efforts to improve the achievement or our students in the classroom and on the performance stage and athletic fields.
Benji Ricard, Ed.D., Principal
Nathan Taylor, SIC Chair