• Category 2

    Selected in 2014

  • Grades: 6 - 8
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 1,096
    Student Enrollment: 109
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 97%
    White/Caucasian: 3%
    Hispanic: 0%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18
    % Reduced Lunch: 95%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1990
  • PRINCIPAL:
    SaJuana Williams
  • CONTACT:
    7062 Green Grove Road
    Lumpkin, GA 31815
    229-838-4301
    williamss@stewart.k12.ga.us
Stewart County Middle School
Lumpkin, GA
The single most important factor in our school’s success is having school and teacher leaders willing to do whatever it takes for students to achieve. These leaders model a strong work ethic and a genuine concern for student achievement.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Our stakeholders’ luncheon is the most successful activity done to date that has strengthened our ties with the community. This group is deliberately chosen to reflect the population of our county from various arenas. Businesses, parents, students, civic and religious groups meet to share information, discuss issues and give insight as to how various school decisions will impact the community. Many of the stakeholders spend the remaining part of their day visiting classrooms encouraging teachers and students.

To get parents further involved on a more regular basis, we also implemented Parent Knight’s Conversation. A parent meeting is held monthly for parents to visit the school and receive pertinent information related to scheduled events. Parents visit the teachers in their classrooms and have the opportunity to discuss their child’s progress. Parents also receive printed progress reports for students as well.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The single most important factor in our school's success is having school and teacher leaders willing to do whatever it takes for students to achieve. These leaders model a strong work ethic and a genuine concern for student achievement. School activities, any interruptions in the school rituals and routines, and other good and well-intentioned events are carefully scrutinized to examine the impact relative to student achievement. The question is posed as to how the activity advances or hinders school goals set for student achievement.
The school's leaders stand as guardians of instructional time. They insure teachers update, review, and use student data to design and implement a response to it. The school leaders maintain a calm, focused demeanor regardless of the circumstance and continue to encourage teachers and students as a part of their routine. Focus walks provided critical formative data on issues needing attention, as well as events to celebrate.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Teacher study groups are a tool that we use to support teaching and student learning. Our school has participated in workshops that help us to identify the DOK of questions and performance task. We have been instructed how to construct and analyze assessments that provide critical feedback on student progress in a unit. We have been taught the use of thinking maps to help students make connections to concepts being taught. Completing a task prior to assigning it to students has proven to be beneficial to identify possible areas of struggle for students. Collaborative discussions and planning, both vertically and horizontally, between teachers have been embraced, and we have not forgotten those lessons taught to us as we strive to integrate the knowledge and applications in our lessons. In addition, peer observations provide fresh ideas to integrate in meeting student’s needs.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
Teachers review student academic, attendance, and discipline data in some form daily, weekly, and each grading period. The daily collection of data may be in the form of teacher observations scribbled on a notepad as observations are being made in the classroom while students work or complete a mini assessment at the end of a class period. Teachers strive weekly to assess student work and determine a grade to reflect progress or lack of made during that week. Teachers use study group meetings to analyze student work and record academic, attendance, and discipline data on each student at each grade level. In response to the data recorded on a chart posted in the data room, teachers consider two questions: 1) which students are not progressing? and 2) what are we going to do about it? The whole faculty or an individual teacher response is designed and implemented in some degree as time permits.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Our school culture seeks to create a warm and inviting atmosphere while being business like in expectations for student growth in academics and the development in successful life habits.

We purposefully seek to have positive interactions between students and teachers. We celebrate students’ growth and academic excellence as well as student improvements by building successful life habits and using what we have termed, “discipline-free.” We find opportunities to integrate life lesson conversations with students in our classes by using Sean Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. These lessons are included on our weekly notes given to teachers. The school has identified six expectations for students that are taught, reinforced, and monitored to help support student development of successful behaviors.



Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2014

  • Grades: 6 - 8
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 1,096
    Student Enrollment: 109
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 97%
    White/Caucasian: 3%
    Hispanic: 0%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18
    % Reduced Lunch: 95%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1990
  • PRINCIPAL:
    SaJuana Williams
  • CONTACT:
    7062 Green Grove Road
    Lumpkin, GA 31815
    229-838-4301
    williamss@stewart.k12.ga.us