FMMS 2022-2023 Report To Parents
Fort Mill Middle School
Principal's Message
My goal is to support our FMMS students in their journey to attain the knowledge, skills, and life & career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. In order to do this, we will provide rigorous coursework based on the SC state standards, experiences in our related arts classes & extracurriculars, and a focus on positivity, respect, integrity, dedication, and engagement. We have a variety of clubs, sports teams, and organizations for our Jackets to take part in. I encourage all of our students to make the most of their middle school experience by getting involved.
Parents and the community are vitally important to our school. I look forward to partnering with you in your child’s education, as parent involvement is crucial to our children’s success. Thank you in advance for your support and encouragement.
Dr. Emily H. McQuay
Excellence in Academics
Fort Mill Middle achieved an Excellent rating on the South Carolina School Report Card. We received the highest score out of all the middle schools in Fort Mill and the second highest score in the state for a non-magnet middle school.
The Hour of Code event at FMMS was created in an effort to ensure that all students, despite their current classes, would receive an hour and a half of coding experience. During this time, students also get an opportunity to connect with professionals who code in both traditional and nontraditional settings.
The Gateway and Computer Technology classes team up to embark on a project entitled, “Shark Tank.” The goal of this project is to design a startup business that they present to a group of investors (the class, teachers, and administrators) for startup money. Their product/service must be original. They research the market and potential demand for product/service and conduct focus group discussions, within the class. Then, calculate costs of production and projected supply and demand of the product. They include demonstrations, prototypes, advertisements, and websites that they created using HTML. They do their best to negotiate a deal, or decide to walk away.
Sixth graders were offered a new club this year. The Reading Buddy Club involved having members walk to Fort Mill Elementary to read with their students. Teachers at FMES could sign up to have the buddy readers come read with their students. The students loved modeling fluent reading, being a role model and seeing familiar faces!
One Book, One School Activities
We will build on our two weeks of community building next week as we kick off our One Book, One School. In our OBOS book, Restart by Gordon Korman, an 8th grade football star has a concussion after falling off the roof of his house and has no recollection that he has been the school bully. When suddenly he is a nice person and good student, he is confused by the reactions he receives from everyone at school. During our reading in SWARM each morning, we will reflect on questions such as “Do people deserve fresh starts? Can a bully change? Which characters show P.R.I.D.E.?”
Excellence in Athletics
This year in Athletics, the Yellow Jackets brought the swarm with several teams making it to a championship game and 3 Lady Jackets teams bringing home a banner. We could not have done this without the hard work of our coaches and support from our parents, Booster, and FMMS staff.
For Fall Sports the Jackets football team made it to the championship against Indian Land Warriors cheered on by our Lady Jackets Cheer and Dance team. The cheerleaders went to several competitions throughout the Fall season landing a 1st place title. Both 7th and 8th grade volleyball teams played an incredible season as well with the 7th grade girls Volleyball winning the championship.
As we entered the Winter season for basketball, cheer and dance several student athletes from Fall made those teams as well. The 8th grade boys basketball made it all the way to the Semi-Finals and showed great sportsmanship throughout the season. Our 7th grade girls Basketball team went on to play an UNDEFEATED season under the direction of Coach Hall. It was an incredible season to not lose a game and another banner for FMMS.
The Spring Sports season always brings with it possible rain delays and more than one game a week due to scheduling our teams showed up to bring the SWARM once again. Boys and Girls soccer teams showed sportsmanship and pride to our school as they played against some competitive teams this year. The baseball team made it to the championship after playing 3 days in a row. Boys and Girls Track brought the sting as we broke several school records. The season ended with Girls Track champions bringing home our 3rd banner of the year.
7th Grade Volleyball
7th Grade Girls' Basketball
Girls' Track and Field
Cultural Offerings
Steppers of Destruction! The Step Team performed at our annual Black History Month Program and at Mystery Night. Stepping is a form of percussive dance in African-American culture. The participant's produced complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps.
FMMS was selected as a partner in education with Blumenthal Performing Arts to host Tablao Flamenco. The students were immersed in the deeply emotional & culturally significant art of flamenco by a world-class line-up of musicians and dancers.
FMMS hosted the Winthrop University West African Drum Collective during our annual Black History Month Assembly. This percussive group provided authentic music and presentation for students school wide.
Student-led Black History Month Program with a guest speaker and performances by our Chorus and Band Department. Daily facts on the morning announcements highlighting prominent African-Americans. Various enrichment activities in both academic and related arts classes throughout the month of February.
Excellence in Career Education
Our HOSA-Future Health Professionals club is the only Middle level HOSA club in the district. Through the course of the year, our enthusiastic students have met with different medical professionals for Q&A, and also worked with NaFo HOSA students.
As an extension in career exploration, students in our Family and Consumer Science and Computer Technology classes research different career options, pick one to focus on/explore in detail, and prepare resumes. They then participate in mock interviews. Students interview with volunteers from the community. This activity is important for students as they consider their careers, but also as they begin applying and interviewing for their first jobs, college admissions, and scholarships. We, with Mrs. Kati McFadden (Career Development Facilitator for FMSD), prepare students by talking about soft skills and how to answer common interview questions. We conclude the preparation by showing sample interviews - students deciding who we should hire.
Fort Mill 7th graders had Career Fair on Wednesday, March 29. Piedmont Medical Center highlighted all 16 of the career clusters at Career Fair. This unique approach shows students that there are opportunities in these fields in places they may not have considered and that it takes these clusters working together for most large companies to operate.
Sixth grade participated in a virtual career day in which they got to pick 3 sessions to attend to learn about careers that they are interested in. Prior to the event, students completed career interest inventories to explore potential careers that align with their interests.
Excellence in Arts
FMMS 6th-8th grade students performed Madagascar Jr. in December as a school-wide Musical Theatre Production.
FMMS 6th and 7th Grade Madagascar Jr. performers participated in the Musical Theatre International: Broadway Junior Celebration at the Knight Theatre in Charlotte, NC. Two stand out performers were recognized by Broadway professionals. This was our school's 5th year in attendance of the Celebration.
FMMS 8th Grade Theatre Arts students attended Fort Mill High School’s spring production musical to support in-district performing arts and solidify understanding of Theatre Arts content standards.
The FMMS Band once again earned straight superior ratings at both the South Carolina State Concert Performance Assessments and the Carowinds’ Music Festival. The band also had 9 students named to the South Carolina All-Region Band.
Two 8th grade FMMS ART students won school artwork competitions this year including Yearbook Cover and Black History Month Stamp design.
Seven FMMS ART students had their artwork featured at the District Art Show.
A 7th grade FMMS ART student won the Lion’s Club Peace Poster contest in our area.
A 7th grade FMMS ART student won an honorable mention in the regional Scholastic Art Award competition.
The 7th grade ART and Spanish classes attended the Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds exhibit at the Mint Museum. The students experienced the artist’s creative process while viewing more than 40 works spanning Pablo Picasso’s full career.
The 8th grade Spanish classes attended Tablao Flamenco at the Stage Door Theater. The students experienced the magnetic energy of flamenco dancing that is found in Andalusia, Spain. They enjoyed a dynamic performance, improvisation, and passionate music delivered by a cast of the most sought-after award-winning flamenco artists in the US & Europe.
Excellence in Extracurricular Activities
FMMS Mathcounts placed second as a team overall at the Catawba Chapter 2023 competition. In the individual part of the competition, FMMS had students place first, second and fifth overall out of 70 total students.
Professional BMX Racers from Team Mongoose visited 8th Grade at FMMS for the USA BMX Foundation’s STEM Motivational Speaking Program.
FMMS Junior Beta Club students volunteered their time, talent and treasure to support organizations around the community. At Fort Mill Elementary students volunteered to assist at the winter dance and helped second graders as book buddies; and within our own school, we took tickets at sporting events and acted as hosts for Mystery Night. Outside FMSD, members have participated in a litter pick up for Earth Day at the Greenway and brightened the days of assisted living residents of Wellmore by reading student-created poems and hosting a BINGO night. Our members also have sponsored supply drives for organizations like Fort Mill Care Center and the Humane Society of York County.
FMMS was so excited to have a parent showcase night again after COVID. Before spring break we had over 600 people join us to help catch the "Masked Stinger" who had stolen items throughout our building leading up to and the night of the event. There were 16 faculty member suspects, and families had to visit classrooms to receive clues to help solve the mystery. The thief turned out to be Mrs. Bridges our media specialist, and all the items were returned- haha. It was so fun seeing kids and parents getting so excited and running around together trying to win.
Additional Achievements
Building Updates
This year the FMMS PTO received a grant from Lowe's to plant multiple trees and shrubs at the school. They also re-mulched all the flower beds. The district purchased us a new scorer's table for the gym, and they replaced the old bathroom stalls. All of the burgundy school signage from when the school was originally built in 1998 was replaced with navy, ADA compliant signage. The burgundy brick throughout the was painted over also. We are slowly but surely getting rid of all the red and burgundy from when the building was built prior to school colors be adopted.
About the FMMS SIC
Parent/ Community Members
Dr. Christi DeWaele
Sonya Schwede
Louise Southern
Faculty Members
Joshua Berdux (Chairperson)
Matthew Mallery
Dr. Emily McQuay
Dawn O'Donnell
Dr. Jennifer Pruett
Mia White
Jennifer Wilson
Link to 2022-2023 SIC Agendas
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v6sW3jZatBOUlS-xMds3Pd6KuCWq-kd0Joee5563SMY/edit?usp=sharing
Teacher of the Year, Jennifer Margeson, and Support Staff of the Year, Matthew LeBlanc
Purpose of This Report
For more information regarding the Fort Mill Middle School SIC please contact Emily McQuay at mcquaye@fortmillschools.org.
Fort Mill Middle School
Dr. Emily McQuay
Principal
Email: mcquaye@fortmillschools.org
Website: fmms.fortmillschools.org
Location: 200 Springfield Pkwy, Fort Mill, SC, USA
Phone: 8035475553
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FMMSJackets
Twitter: @FMMSJackets