Atlanta Charter Middle School

Atlanta's youngest operating charter school is located in the Ormewood Park community in Southeast Atlanta. It provides an alternative to the surrounding middle schools, and it boasts the highest composite CRCT scores for any middle school in APS. The school is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Infobox Secondary school
name = Atlanta Charter Middle School
principal = Matt Underwood
city = Atlanta
state = Georgia
country = USA
established = 2005
campus = Urban
type = Public Middle School
students = 120 students
grades = 6–8
district = Atlanta Public Schools
mascot = Wolves
colors = White, Gray, and Blue
website = [http://www.atlantachartermiddle.com http://www.atlantachartermiddle.com]

History

before August 2005

The vision for Atlanta Charter Middle School (ACMS) started four years ago when neighborhood parents wanted another option for their children within the neighborhood. Originally called Southeast Atlanta Charter Middle School (SACMS), the first word was dropped to encourage students from all over the city to come. The original location was the 3^rd floor of the Park Avenue Baptist Church, but the Neighborhood Charter School (NCS) offered some classrooms on their top floor for ACMS's beginning year. The Transition Board, later replaced by the Governing Board, was responsible for all necessary actions prior to the opening of the school.

After Opening

In August 2005, ACMS officially opened with 40 students and 10 staff members. Students from all over Atlanta that previously attended NCS, Cenntenial Place Elementary, Parkside Elementary, Benteen Elementary, D.H Stanton Elementary, and many other schools attended. The staff number was very small, and the population was low, but there was a very strong sense of community and a rigorous curriculum. During that first year, the students democratically chose a mascot and their school colors. However, one major problem still existed; a permanent facility had yet to be found. The school's governing board chose the vacant Anne E. West building to be the permanent home of the school. After considerable deliberation and strong community support, Anne E. West was finally granted to ACMS. After months of planning and cleaning up, the Anne E. West building was finally ready for student use.In August 2006, ACMS had 80 students and 12 staff members.

ers. Soon after opening in their permanent facility, they joined the LUKE SPORTS program, which is a league that already has many charter school participants. On February 16, a team of four students competed in the MathCounts competition at Georgia Tech. The team placed very high, and 3 students went to the state competition on March 24.

Curriculum

ACMS's curriculum is based on the Constructivist theory of education, which emphasizes more teacher-student involvement and less dependency on textbooks as the primary source of education. It also uses the Conneted Mathematics program, which is a different approach to the standard way of teaching math. As a matter of fact, there are no textbooks; media resources, resource books, and hands-on involvement are the primary teaching modes at this school.

Extracurricular activities

*Band
*Soccer (spring sport)
*Basketball (winter sport)
*Flag Football (fall sport)
*Newspaper
*Math Varsity Team
*Dance Club
*Drama Club

Accolades

ACMS has made many accomplishments in its one-and-a-half years of operation:
*a strong PTCA
*a student to go to the State level of the National Geographic Bee for two consecutive years
*earning the award for the football team with the best character (2006), and making it to second place in the league in only the second year.

On February 16, a team of four students competed in the MathCounts conpetition at Georgia Tech. The team placed very high, and 3 students qualified for the state competition

External links

* [http://www.atlantachartermiddle.com ACMS Official Home Page]