Starr-Iva Middle School

Some of our future Crescent FFA members participated in an FFA 101 workshop presented by our very own State FFA President Jabe Holtzclaw and State FFA Vice President Brooklyn Iseli! The workshop focused on the FFA mission of premier leadership, personal growth, and career success as students prepare to become future Crescent FFA members. We’re excited to see how these students grow and lead! 💙💛

You know what’s exciting?! 🍩🎉 Donuts and extra recess for being the grade level that showed the MOST academic achievement on SC READY! Our 8th graders got to celebrate their hard work with Mr. Lollis, and they earned it! During the celebration, students also got the scoop on their upcoming 8th grade field trip and the expectations that will help them earn their spot. Attendance matters. Behavior matters. Grades matter. And the choices they make throughout the year matter! We love celebrating where our students have been while also challenging them to keep pushing toward where they’re going.

Week 7 of Restart is here! Happy Reading!

Help us welcome another addition to the 2026-2027 #A3TeachingTeam, Mr. Josh Wade! 🍎💛🎉

Mr. Wade is joining Starr-Iva Middle, where he is teaching Introduction to Business! 💻📊

A Fort Mill native, Josh brings more than 14 years of experience teaching and coaching at the high school level. He is also a U.S. Army veteran who completed two tours in Afghanistan before returning home, earning his degree from Anderson University, and beginning his career in education. He spent more than a decade coaching football at BHP and is excited for this new opportunity to teach and coach at the middle school level while spending more time with his wife, Lindsey, and their boys. 🇺🇸

New this year, Introduction to Business will help our middle school students become more confident, efficient, and safe users of technology. Students will develop practical skills with word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and other digital tools while learning about digital citizenship, internet safety, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

We are excited to expand these opportunities for our students and thrilled to welcome Mr. Wade to Anderson 3! 🐯💛

English I students spent some time in the library with Mrs. Russell learning all about research! 📚 Students learned how to identify credible sources, properly cite their research, and find reliable information using the resources available in our library. Now they’re putting those skills to work as they research and prepare for their upcoming Wax Museum! We can’t wait to see their research come to life! 👏

Students aren’t the only ones being challenged to think deeply, collaborate, and problem-solve at SIMS! 💡 Last week, our teachers spent time digging into their gradebooks and summative assessments: not just looking at the grades, but asking what the data actually tells us about student learning. Teachers worked together to identify patterns, determine who has mastered the content and who may need reteaching, analyze individual assessment questions, and evaluate whether their assessments truly reflect the level of thinking we expect from our students. At SIMS, we believe grades should tell the truth about what students know and can do. That means our teachers have to be learners, too, reflecting on instruction, studying the evidence, collaborating with one another, and making adjustments based on what our students need next. We ask our students to learn, grow, and get better every day. We expect the same of ourselves.

We were SO excited to welcome Rowan and Mrs. Dicce back to school last week! Everyone at SIMS is feeling extra blessed and grateful for this sweet miracle. Of course, a special return called for a special welcome! 🦖🦕 We had a little dino fun waiting for Rowan when he hopped off the bus Monday afternoon! Ps: Mr. Marvin and his costumes are sure to bring a smile to everyone's face around here!

And if you’ve noticed our lunchroom getting a little louder lately… there’s a good reason! 😊 We placed conversation cards on our lunch tables to challenge students to put down the distractions, talk to someone around them, and learn a little more about one another in honor of our core value for the month: friendship. The result? More talking. More laughing. More connecting. And yes, a much louder lunchroom! It may be loud, but those conversations are music to our ears. ❤️

SIMS is SUPER proud of 8th grader Savannah Sanders, who earned a spot in the first violin section of the Anderson County All-County Orchestra!

What an awesome accomplishment and a reflection of Savannah’s hard work and talent! Way to go, Savannah! 👏🎶

📚 TECH-FREE WEEK at SIMS! ✏️ This week, we pressed pause on the screens and got back to learning through doing, talking, reading, writing, creating, and problem-solving together! Student jokes aside, our teachers and students made the most of it! Students extended an M&M percent lab by learning to use compasses and protractors, measuring angles, creating frequency charts, determining scale factors, and building pie charts by hand. There was plenty of erasing and plenty of learning along the way! Students explored how scientific thinking is constantly revised as new knowledge is discovered. After piecing together a puzzle, they were given “new data” and had to rethink how that information fit with what they already knew. Students took a deep dive into fiction books, analyzing how authors develop plot and characters through word choice and dialogue. Others tackled tech-free word-part study, working together, talking through their thinking, and learning from one another instead of from a screen. One class wrapped up its learning with a summative assessment in the form of a postcard from an ancient traveler visiting Mesopotamia. Students had a few minutes as a bell ringer to finish their postcards and demonstrate what they learned in a creative, meaningful way. Tech-Free Week wasn’t about doing less, it was about engaging differently. More conversation. More collaboration. More productive struggle. More hands-on learning. More opportunities to think. Sometimes pressing pause helps us be a little more present.

Congrats to these kiddos for receiving positive referrals this month. They are great friends and are doing GREAT things at SIMS! ❤️

2026-2027 Yearbook Info

It's Week SIX! Happy Reading!

It's Week Five; Happy reading!

We GET TO come to SIMS each day and be a good friend to others: seeing a need and filling that need- having GRIT to persevere! Grateful Realizing Initiating Taking We are thankful for our District Mental Health Coordinator, her interns, and our guidance counselors for an excellent Quarter 1 Healthy Habits Assembly for all of our students and staff!

🐛🌱 There’s always something interesting happening in Ag class!

Mrs. Caldwell brought in a little “show and tell” straight from her garden at home: tobacco hornworms! Students used hand lenses to get an up-close look while learning the differences between tobacco and tomato hornworms.

They explored the hornworm life cycle, discussed why these caterpillars are considered garden pests and which plants they prefer, and students learned about their defenses against predators.

No lesson is complete without a new vocabulary word! Today’s word: “frass”-the scientific term for insect poop! 💩🐛😂

📖💃 POETRY IN MOTION AT SIMS! 💃📖 Ms. Smith’s English I students read “My Papa’s Waltz” as part of their poetry unit and then took their learning beyond the page by asking, “How do you waltz?” Of course, they had to find out! We love seeing our teachers create opportunities that make learning engaging, meaningful, and memorable for our students. These are the lessons they’ll remember long after the unit is over!

🌿🔨 GROWING TOGETHER at SIMS! 🔨🌿 Mrs. Caldwell’s class was thrilled to receive new raised beds built and delivered by the Crescent Ag classes! We love partnering with other schools in our amazing district. 🤝 Our 6th graders also worked hard to dismantle and assemble coop panels. They had to be handy with a ratchet, and several students were very good at it! 🛠️

🌿🔬 SCIENCE IN NATURE at SIMS! 🔬🌿 Mrs. Meredith’s science students worked on making qualitative and quantitative observations during a nature walk last week! Students explored their surroundings, recorded details, and practiced using scientific observations in a hands-on learning experience. If you look closely, you may find an "insect-friend" like they did!

📚🏆 LUNCH TIME TRIVIA at SIMS! 🏆📚 Lunch time trivia is one of our favorite parts of our One Book, One School initiative! Our students are loving Restart, and we are having so much fun rewarding them for their participation and enthusiasm.