Vision

At Sebastian Middle School all students will achieve personal success in their learning and become responsible and productive citizens.

Mission

To fully prepare students to contribute to our diverse community and the changing world, Sebastian MS will provide a balanced, varied school curriculum designed to meet the academic, cultural, and social needs of all students.

21st CENTURY CURRICULUM

Students complete the core courses of science, history, reading/language arts, and math for the entire year. Math and reading/language arts are offered in 45-90-minute blocks and science and history are offered in 45-minute single blocks. Students also complete technology education (ICTE and computer science) with a digital citizenship component. The goal with our sixth graders is for all students to have STEAM coursework for a semester and introduce Lego robotics, coding, gaming, and makerspace projects. Our grade level PLC team planning allows for flexible grouping of students between classes and promotes collaboration. Students are able to see the interconnectedness of all areas of study as they relate to a driving question. Students create projects that have ties to the community, which helps solidify the importance of STEAM as a transformative educational experience.

The importance of reading to be informed and to engage with the units of study is considered one of the essential elements of the STEAM program. Students are exposed to texts and novels that are relevant to their topics of study in science to help "make the connection." Through interdisciplinary novel studies in each grade level, students explore authentic, high quality texts that connect across the middle grades core curriculum. Students read books they love in class while building knowledge of important topics and increasing their literacy skills. Class sets and audio recordings of the novels are supplemented by online materials, articles, and multimedia resources. Each unit includes a capstone project where students apply STEAM strategies to connect and extend their learning through original creations.

BLENDED LEARNING

Many teachers have traditionally felt pressured to “cover” the curriculum and not “waste” too much time on any one topic or project. This content philosophy of “mile wide and an inch-deep” contrasts sharply with our approach, which emphasizes depth, synthesis, and creation. Our STEAM immersion requires students to “defend” their designs (such as robotic rovers) in front of the local professional and scientific community after weeks of research and engineering. This is immersion within the curriculum through interdisciplinary unit design, high levels of rigor, problem/solution applications, and continual development of the 21st century skills they will need for employment. Technology is infused throughout the process, including the use of 1-to-1 laptops in core classes, Schoology LMS, Office 365 Suite, iReady, Discovery Ed, LiveSchool, Brainology, Learning Blade, myON, IXL, Reading Plus, Makerspace Bots, Coding, and Gamestar Mechanic.

PERSONALIZATION

While student coursework is focused on STEAM, students have the opportunity to take a variety of electives throughout their three years in the program, including foreign language, art, band, chorus, and Orchestra. Students also complete physical education and health as a full year program. This balanced approach to the schedule allows students to develop a strong background in engineering and computer programming, but also lets them explore electives without sacrificing the core components of the program.

As part of our dedication to personalized learning, we implement an “Eagle Hour” segment so that students can explore a range of extension and remediation activities. This segment provides time for activities such as guest speakers, assemblies, study hall, detention, positive behavior rewards, and special events. Teachers provide extra support for the core subjects and writing on a rotational basis, and students are identified for assistance in pull out groups based on formative assessment data. By providing SMS students with a flexible segment during the school week when they can explore clubs and receive support, we believe we have deepened student engagement and increased student achievement.

Eagle Hour choices: Algebra EOC Prep, Basketball, Battle of Books, Bingo, Board Games, Brain Games, Builders Club, Card Tricks/Magic, Contraption Engineering Club, Creative Eagles (Writing), Credit Recovery, Dance, Drum Line/Drum Set, Eagles Nest, ELA Grade Recovery, Exploration Station (Science/Math Projects), Film Study, Fishing 101, Flag Football, GameStar Mechanic and App Creation, Geometry EOC Prep, Internet Café, Jewelry Making, Kickball, Knitting/Sewing, MakerSpace, No Bake Club, Painting, Photography, Robotics, Running Club, Salsa Dancing, Science Chef, Screen Printing, Sign Language, Soccer, Stock Market 101, String Orchestra, Study Hall – Math Support, Theatre, Weightlifting, Whiffleball, and Yoga.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

Students have opportunities to collaborate on projects and share their creations with authentic audiences through our partnerships with Northrop Grumman, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, and others. These community stakeholders are actively engaged to support learner success through feedback, mentoring, project collaboration, and financial backing. Parents experience the results of this deep engagement at our “Night of Arts and Sciences” events and offer their perceptions, opinions, and questions in feedback surveys and at Mr. King’s monthly “Communication Cornerstone” meetings. The process of developing and implementing the SMS STEAM program has been a transformative school improvement process over the past 18 months.

Dedicated to innovative and effective leadership.

Deepening student learning through the collaborative development of an interdisciplinary curriculum in a technology infused environment that is enriched and supported with community partnerships.