Pelion Middle School is helping all students develop the world-class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing a learning environment that embodies a holistic approach to education and integrates highly effective practices throughout the school’s culture. As a Leader in Me school, PMS implements a whole-school transformational process that empowers students with the tools they need to thrive in the 21st century. We continue to implement initiatives that promote student achievement, relationships and community partnerships through advocacy structures, leadership opportunities and instructional practices. In an effort to redefine how the school measures success, PMS employs practices that teach leadership to every student, create a culture of student empowerment and align systems to drive results in academics.
We continue to strengthen our practices in order to establish and leverage relationships among a collaborative team of caring certified and support staff. These staff members are committed to student achievement, character development and overall professional success for each member. Furthermore, stakeholders work to gain a deep understanding of the culture that represents and supports PMS students, their families and the community, while building and maintaining relationships, structures and systems. We have worked to leverage critical areas of focus for PMS staff professional development in an effort to promote success for all students and growth in instructional practices. Through our work, we have grown in our understanding of the opportunities in place to support safety, social and emotional well-being, and academic excellence for both students and teachers.
To support our students’ mastery of world-class knowledge, we remain committed to designing an optimal learning environment in which all students, regardless of circumstances, have equitable access to quality instruction. We employ a push-in model for Response to Intervention in both English language arts and math to ensure that student needs are being met in the general education setting. Through the implementation of the workshop model, we maximize student learning opportunities and provide timely, meaningful feedback and assessment by which to adjust instruction and enrich learning experiences across content areas. Our school’s partnership with Teachers College, full implementation of Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study and ELA Model Classroom provide us with the necessary tools and resources to collaborate, remediate instruction and enrich as necessary. Our continued partnership with the Dynamic Learning Project as a partnership with Google, in addition to our Rolling Study Hall initiative, continues to increase student achievement by providing students with academic advocates, addressing the homework access gap for students traveling long distances on school buses and enhancing teachers’ use of one-to-one technology.
In order to support students’ efforts to gain world-class skills, we are strengthening a variety of structures. For instance, we engage students in meaningful work that requires them to make connections, think critically, demonstrate independence and set academic, as well as behavioral, goals. In addition to the core academic setting, students utilize world-class skills through our visual/performing arts offerings and clubs/organizations. Competing on the local, district and state level, our students continue to earn a host of awards and recognitions.
To help students develop strong life and career characteristics, we guide students to “finding their voice” in the classroom and through school leadership roles. Through this guidance, students learn and apply life-ready leadership skills. In LEAD, our school’s advocacy structure, students participate in service projects, acknowledge multiple perspectives, participate in team-building and conduct character reflection as we lay the foundation for success in middle school and beyond. Specifically, students engage in leadership roles in the group environment and public-speaking opportunities on both academic and social topics. Students also plan family engagement nights, school orientations and school-level service projects. Through the facilitation of this work, we are enabling students to be leaders of their own learning and crafters of their own destinies.
As we continue to explore and shift paradigms, we are proud to establish an environment in which students not only learn but they thrive.
Kailanya S. Brailey, Principal
Randall Cooper, SIC Chair