Two South Carolina middle schools selected for national Schools to Watch recognition
February 15, 2010
ANDERSON, SC – February 15, 2010 – Two South Carolina middle schools have joined the ranks of the prestigious national Schools to Watch recognition program.
Southwood Middle School in Anderson District Five and Indian Land Middle School in Lancaster County are the most recent campuses to earn this distinction. 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.
Schools apply for recognition. Four factors are particularly important when a team of application readers reviews a school’s submission:
• progress on the campus toward academic excellence;
• how well the school’s programs meet the needs of middle school-age children;
• whether the school provides all children access to valued knowledge and experiences; and
• whether organizational structures are in place at the school to allow it to be successful.
Southwood has won several prestigious awards recently. In October 2009, it was one of two schools in the state and 118 nationwide named AVID Demonstration Schools. AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination, is designed to help students focus on the goals of college eligibility and success.
In recent years, Southwood has changed its class schedule from five periods to six per school day to provide students who are facing difficulty with grade-level work an extra period of enrichment activities. Also, the school has added an after-school program and before-school program to help students with homework and provide additional instruction.
Indian Land has received the South Carolina Department of Education’s Schools of Character award for demonstrating outstanding school climate and academic performance. Schools of Character were selected by a panel of reviewers with experience in character education and student development initiatives.
Over the past two years, Indian Land’s administration, faculty, parents and students have worked to focus on the school’s resources and find new ways to address shortcomings. School programs have been tailored to meet Schools to Watch criteria.
Both Southwood and Indian Land will be featured at the South Carolina Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in early March at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
