Belton Middle School Selected for National Schools to Watch Recognition Program

February 19, 2009

COLUMBIA, SC – February 19, 2009 – Another South Carolina middle school has joined the ranks of the prestigious national Schools to Watch recognition program.

Belton Middle School in Anderson District Two has been added to the list along with the state’s previous three participants – Blythewood Middle School (Richland District Two), Palmetto Middle School (Anderson District One) and Kershaw County’s Lugoff-Elgin Middle School.  

The program was created by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform in 1999 to honor high-performing middle schools.  South Carolina joined the initiative in 2006 and is one of 18 states participating. 

The national organization says Schools to Watch share three common characteristics:

• They are academically excellent – challenging all students to use their minds well.
• They are developmentally responsive – sensitive to the unique developmental challenges of early adolescence.
• They are socially equitable – democratic and fair, providing every student with high-quality teachers, resources and support.

Belton Middle School has 438 students in grades 6-8.  Principal Margaret Spivey is president-elect of the Middle School Executive Committee for the South Carolina Association of School Administrators.  

Belton Middle will be featured at the South Carolina Middle School Association’s upcoming conference at Myrtle Beach from March 6-8.  That group administers School to Watch efforts in the Palmetto State, along with the South Carolina Association of School Administrators-Middle Level Principals Division, the State Department of Education, the South Carolina Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the South Carolina Middle Grades Project.