Meadow Glen Middle School is helping all students develop the World-Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing an active, challenging, meaningful, public and collaborative learning environment. As an EL Education school, we focus on educating the whole child. This means that we highlight the importance of students excelling academically and behaviorally. We assess our effectiveness through the three dimensions of student achievement: Mastery of Knowledge and Skills; High-Quality Work; and Character. Our success in the areas of the three dimensions is measured by students’ abilities to demonstrate proficiency according to state standards. In addition to academics, we measure success through a review of the complex, beautiful work they create throughout the year, and we assess their development as ethical people and learners through our Habits of Scholarship. We help children gain world-class knowledge and skills by engaging students in active learning, fostering student leadership opportunities and leveraging community partnerships. Structures such as CREW, Habits of Scholarship, student-engaged assessment practices, student-led Town Hall celebrations, student-led conferences, student passages, expeditions and case studies all gave our children a plethora of opportunities to utilize the world-class knowledge, skills, and life and career characteristics they need to be successful, productive graduates and citizens of South Carolina.
For instance, to support our students’ mastery of world-class knowledge, we continue to refine our expeditions and case studies at each grade level. In the sixth grade expedition “Rules to Live By,” students explore rules that cross historical, social, cultural and governmental forums. In addition, students develop their own rules to live by, which will be featured in a school calendar. Our seventh grade students explore the human and environmental costs of industry as well as the benefits of sustainability and buying local in the “What’s the Cost?” expedition. In response to their research and data collection this past year, students produced a buyer’s guide featuring local businesses in order to benefit the local community and sustainability. Finally, in the “Take a Stand” expedition, eighth grade students identified a community issue on which they would like to take a stand. Students then engaged in rigorous thinking, reading, writing and speaking as they researched the problem, then prepared a plan. Students then implement action steps to address their selected community issue. Expedition teams participated in a variety of action steps including advocating for changes in school scheduling, constructing and installing used fishing line containers around Lake Murray, picking up litter in our community and distributing informational pamphlets at the 2019 Sportsman’s Classic in Columbia.
In order to support students’ efforts to gain world-class skills, we strengthened a variety of structures. For instance, we engaged students in meaningful work that required them to make connections, synthesize their learning and acknowledge multiple perspectives through critical thinking. Students were challenged to make interdisciplinary connections between math and other content areas. In eighth grade math classes, students conducted research regarding the pros and cons of homework. Students then analyzed data to determine if homework completion had an effect on their grades. The culminating product was an evidence-based argumentative essay that students wrote to support their findings on the effectiveness of homework. Using an interdisciplinary approach, students combined English language arts research and communication skills as well as data analysis as a facet of mathematical reasoning.
Students also leveraged the skills of communication and collaboration in their preparation for Socratic Seminars across contents in our school. In eighth grade science, students researched and worked together to create arguments for and against the funding of NASA. Additionally, social studies students participated in Socratic Seminars on topics such as freedom of speech, gun rights, privacy of technology and the electoral college.
To help children develop strong life and career characteristics, our school has continued to develop and strengthen our structures of CREW, student-led conferences and Passages. To celebrate our students’ development in integrity, self-direction, work ethic and perseverance, our sixth and seventh graders presented SLCs in the fall and spring semesters. During these student-to-parent conferences, our children presented portfolios of their work and reflections on their Habits of Scholarship. In Passages, eighth graders presented a more expansive portfolio of work across their time in middle school to a panel consisting of school and community members. The past two years, more than 300 community members served as panelists for Passages, giving each student specific feedback on their portfolio. Students were able to reflect, create and practice these presentations in our advisory structure called CREW. In addition, students strengthened their interpersonal and communication skills as they completed initiatives and engaged in protocols during their CREW classes each week.
Our students’ world-class knowledge and skills as well as their life and career characteristics were further enhanced through our fine arts and related arts classes. Sixth and eighth grade students collaborated with students from our special education class to form the Unified physical education and Unified dance classes at MGM. The students in these courses worked to support one another in differentiated tasks so that all could participate, celebrate one another's successes and build empathy toward fellow human beings. In STEM, students had ongoing opportunities to practice perseverance during the design and creation of model roller coasters in the engineering process unit. All students in the STEM class reflected on their successes and failures, and highlighted their growth in a video of the process.
Lastly, students demonstrated the ability to think globally and act locally through a variety of service project opportunities. This year our children participated in “Better World Day” and took part in a variety of service opportunities for our local community including raising and releasing trout in a local river, beautifying our school campus and making lunches for the homeless in our community. This is just one example of the collective servant’s heart our children have here at MGM.
Whether through service, expedition, CREW or Passages, our students demonstrated across the board that they are thriving and preparing to create a better world.
Bill Coon, Ed.D., Principal
Bob Grant, SIC Chair