Highlights of Exemplary Practices Aligned with the 18 Characteristics of Successful Middle Schools

Highlights of Exemplary Practices Aligned with the 18 Characteristics of Successful Middle Schools

Characteristics #9: Curriculum is challenging, exploratory, integrative, and diverse and #11: Instruction fosters learning that is active, purposeful, and democratic.

Tybee Island Maritime Academy cultivates a holistic approach to student education within our community through a STEAM-driven, project-based learning curriculum. Our students engage with real-world problems that impact both our school and the surrounding community, developing their own meaningful solutions or responses to those challenges.

Working in groups, students identify their approach to problem solving, determine individual roles, and generate a plan of action. This process requires them to meet the four pillars of our design process: Empathy, Collaboration, Service, and Creativity.

Characteristic #17: Professional learning for all staff is relevant, long-term, and job-embedded.

The professional learning we engage in, much like our student curriculum, is inquiry-based. Faculty and staff identify areas of professional practice that we believe can enhance our pedagogy, support our students, and strengthen community engagement. The administration supports this learning process by providing opportunities to attend external professional development, as well as dedicated time to share researched best practices from our own classrooms. Monthly TIMA-Ed Camps give teachers the chance to challenge and inspire one another with new strategies, while also exploring student needs or concerns together.

Characteristic #7: Our students collaborate with parents and professionals from the community as a standard practice in the learning environment.

As students work to identify and understand real-world problems through project-based learning, they conduct interviews and pitch ideas to teachers, subject matter experts, and parents who offer valuable insight into the community. Faculty collaborate with local stakeholders to plan large-scale projects and ensure students have opportunities to engage as active members of the community. This approach makes their work more authentic and meaningful, as they participate in community engagement and strive to solve real challenges within their environment.