Principal Shunte Dugar and the faculty, staff and students of New Ellenton Middle School were recently recognized as one of just 62 middle schools across the country to achieve national STEM-certification through AdvancED, the nation’s premier education accrediting agency.
This impressive achievement for New Ellenton Middle, which has been designated as a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) magnet school in Aiken County, follows a successful 2015-16 school year that saw the school earn distinction as a Palmetto Gold and Silver Award winner amid sustained academic achievement.
To earn the certification, New Ellenton Middle demonstrated their implementation of STEM programming, curriculum, and community involvement as measured by a variety of indicators related to the learner, educator, and experiences afforded to students. AdvancED’s STEM indicators include reaching underrepresented groups, creating an inquiry-based learning environment, implementing an interdisciplinary problem-based curriculum focused on real world applications, fostering educator collaboration, and building community, post-secondary, business and industry partnerships that support teachers and students in their STEM studies, among many more.
Dugar says time spent with District support personnel and her staff during a July strategy session and visioning exercise provided goals and direction for the school’s future growth.
“That time in the summer was vital to our success,” Dugar, now in her fourth year as principal at NEMS stated. “It really helped us to establish a concrete identity of who we were and who we wanted to be and what our cornerstone philosophy would be and what guarantees we were going to be able to deliver to our students. It helped us to create a product and an identity that would differentiate us and set us apart from other middle schools in Aiken County.”
That’s why she says earning the internationally recognized STEM-certification through AdvancEDso quickly came as no shock – outstanding achievement is all part of the plan.
“We knew how hard we had worked. We want to become one of the premier STEAM schools, not only in South Carolina but in the nation,” Dugar commented. “That’s our goal, and that’s why we weren’t surprised because we knew that we were already moving along on that path.”
The pathway she references also included high-quality professional development, book studies and a number of school visits across the state. But the most valuable ingredient to the school’s new focus, Dugar says, was secured much closer to home.
“The first thing that we absolutely had to have was the total support of our faculty. They had to believe in the power of a STEAM education and what kind of learning environment it could create and how it can transform a passive student to being an active and learning student, and also translate not only into high school but to college and career preparedness and readiness as well,” Dugar commented. This is a unique place and we have special people working here so it wasn’t difficult getting that buy-in. They were on board 100 percent.”
With the faculty on board, the transformation from New Ellenton Middle School to New Ellenton STEAM Middle Magnet School began to take shape. Classrooms began to change, with a greater focus on incorporating the arts and complete interdisciplinary integration. Dugar says in any number of STEAM school classrooms it should be much harder for visitors and casual observers to know exactly which school subject is being taught at the moment.
In a STEAM middle school, you should be able to walk into any classroom and not be able to tell what sort of classroom it is and whether you are in a math class, an English class or a social studies classroom because everything is interdisciplinary,” Dugar explained. “Teachers should be utilizing an arts-based curriculum to help stimulate the creativity in their students. In a STEAM classroom you will find a lot more collaboration, technology is essential, of course, and you will find students who are able to communicate their thoughts and also defend what they have learned and back up what they have learned with factual evidence.”
Dugar says she has received her most positive feedback from the people who matter the most – her students.
“Our students have really been active participants in this entire process,” Dugar added. “They listen, observe and offer us feedback on what we are doing. They reflect on what we have accomplished and also give us ideas about where we still need to go. They have been and will continue to be instrumental in everything we do because it’s really all about them; it’s about helping them to succeed and ensuring that they leave here as better students then when they arrived.”
Aiken County Superintendent Dr. Sean Alford is a big fan of the progress that has been made and success that’s been evident at the school in a few short months.
“In line with the whole idea of providing a high-quality educational experience for all students, New Ellenton Middle STEAM Magnet School has established a thematic program that guarantees a certain experience for students, and most especially one that aligns itself with an area where the future job market has such great opportunities,” Dr. Alford commented. “I think it was very wise for the school’s leadership at that point to apply, pursue and earn that endorsement through AdvancED accreditation, which is an international endorsement.
“It speaks volumes, not only for the educators at the school, but also for the students and that community, and the STEAM program which includes that guaranteed experience for students,” Dr. Alford added. “Not only are we proud of them, but we expect great things from them in the future. It’s all about aspiration. With that term, as it relates to New Ellenton Middle STEAM Magnet School, you ratify the success of the past, but at the same time you also embrace the desire to achieve and be more. With the work they did this summer in collaborating and aspiring to do great things, this is just one of the good examples of that type of focus.”
Ms. Dugar agrees, adding that while everyone has enjoyed the many celebratory moments which have surrounded the AdvancED announcement, the school’s singular focus is firmly set on future achievements.
“It’s really been nice to celebrate this accreditation with our faculty and students and reap some of the fruits of our labor, but now we are back to work.”
DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2017 PR NEW ELLENTON STEM