The middle school of Lexington School District Four seeks to provide each student with challenging and highly motivating learning experiences. Located in Gaston, South Carolina, just twenty miles south of Columbia, Sandhills Middle School has a unique student population.
Executive Summary:
“You Can Get Anywhere From Here”: Sandhills Middle School’s motto and embedded belief. We feel that our school is just simply a stepping stone to the wealth of opportunities that await our students. Our strategic plan mirrors our motto. We feel that through learning experiences and problem-solving opportunities within the classroom and beyond, our students really can get anywhere from here. Our Mission Control Room is the central hub of our strategic plan. In the Mission Control Room, NASA inquiry-based activities and problem-solving experiences take place throughout the year. Students are exposed to a myriad of opportunities to apply math, science, and technology content to their everyday lives within and out of the classroom. The instructional coaches and teachers are working collaboratively to team teach lessons that incorporate the inquiry model. Each month, themes are assigned to the “missions” in Mission Control. Teachers and instructional coaches assure curriculum and themes are standards-based. Within the Mission Control Room and in classrooms throughout the school, students are exposed to emerging technologies in various capacities. A classroom set of palms are being used to collect data and solve problems. NASA Connect and NASA SCI files, as well as other NASA resources are being integrated throughout the curriculum of the classroom. Students are video conferencing with DLN and current NASA scientists, researchers, and other schools across the nation. We hope to impact our community throughout the use of this plan also. We feel that we lack the support of our surrounding community. Opportunities for parents to learn specific science, math and technology content will be offered through our First Annual Parent University. Nights of stargazing and meteor watching will be planned for families to spend their evenings. Finally, our fourth school-wide carnival will team up with NASA and JASON to model our school motto: “You Can Get Anywhere from Here, Destination: MARS"
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