About the School

Alexander City Middle School is located in Alexander City, Al near scenic Lake Martin. Alexander City is home to over 15,000 people and more than 3,000 students in our five schools, with close to 450 of those being students at Alexander City Middle School. Alexander City is home to a world class medical facility in Russell Medical Center and is located in the vicinity of 5 tier II automotive suppliers. We are steeped in community tradition with several annual community events, such as The Sun Fest, The Jazz Fest, The Oktoberfest, Wildcat Dash 5K, and Russell Forest Run. The events bring out community members from all walks of life to have a good time and support our city. Over the past five years the population of the Alexander City community has drastically declined resulting in a decrease in our student population. The racial make-up of our student body reflects the racial make-up of our community with 40% representing minority groups. We have a growing population of Hispanic and Korean residents.

Alexander City Middle School serves the 7th and 8th grade students of Alexander City. We are a school of 41 faculty and staff members that are devoted to the academic, social, and emotional growth of approximately 450 middle school students. We address the needs of our students by offering a solid core curriculum that is integrated with sports and extra-curricular offerings. Our extra-curricular activities are supported by our community through attendance at events and partnerships. We have an extensive Parks and Recreations Service that offers a large variety of little league sports that feed into our middle school program. We also partner with the Civitan, Lions and Kiwanis Clubs of Alexander City by sponsoring Junior chapters of their organizations here at Alexander City Middle School.

Academically we offer English Language Arts, Math, Science, and the Social Sciences to our students. We also offer 7th and 8th grade Honors English Language Arts, Honor's Life & Physical Science. 7th grade Honors Math, and 8th grade Algebra I for our accelerated students. We offer Intervention classes to support our students that require remediation in reading and math. Our students are able to take several elective classes and we plan to offer many more in the near future. During the 2015-2016 school year students will be offered the following elective courses: Art, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) which includes Introduction to Robotics, Automation and Robotics, and Design and Modeling, Career Explorations, Drama, Beginner and Advanced Band, and Music. Our teachers are dedicated to the improvement of their practice and its impact on student achievement. They are trained in the use of the methods of the Alabama Reading Initiative and the Alabama Math Science and Technology Initiative. We participate in the quarterly meetings of the College and Career Readiness training sponsored by the Alabama State Department of Education. Teachers receive on average 30 hours of professional development per year. This professional development ranges in topics from instructional strategies to classroom management to using technology efficiently in the classroom. Professional development is individualized for the needs of the teacher as well as prescribed for the faculty as a whole. We engage in vertical planning with teachers from William L. Radney School and Benjamin Russell High School. We have 1 teacher that is a trained presenter for the Alabama Learning Exchange in the area of the use of iPads in the classroom.

At ACMS, 24% of our students qualify for Special Educational Services, which includes Gifted Education. Our 8th grade Algebra I class sends a team of 4 students to the Southern Union Math Competition each year. For the last 2 years we have been the only middle school to compete and both years we have come in 2nd place and we have had one student to win overall. Students are encouraged to explore their interest outside of the classroom. Once per month we have a club day in which the following clubs meet: Jr. Civitan, Kiwanis Builders' Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Guitar Club, 4H, Academic Honors, Art, God's Girls, Math, and Student Government Association. Each year our media specialist selects up to 10 students to work on our yearbook that is issued annually. Both our beginner band and advanced band perform in a Christmas and Spring Concert, as well as the advanced band playing at pep rallies for the ACMS football team.

We believe team sports and individual sports teach discipline and a sense of belonging, therefore we offer our students opportunities to participate in various sports. We offer football, volleyball, basketball, golf, tennis, wrestling, baseball, softball, soccer, track, cheerleading, and dance team. Thirty-six percent of our students to participated in one or more sports during the 2015-2016 school year. Our athletic programs are supported by our parents and the community. A group of community members are embarking upon the project of renovating Hamp Lyon Stadium, the football stadium located on our campus. Upon completion of the project we will be able to hold our football and soccer games on our campus. We have a state of the art weight room for our male and female athletes that is housed on our campus. Russell Medical Center provides us with a trainer that is present at a majority of our sporting events and that provides preventive and follow-up care for our student athletes.

We try to positively impact our students' social growth in various ways. We hold 2 dances per year for our students along with various other activities. We hold a homecoming game, talent show, a teacher - student volleyball game, womanless beauty pageant, teacher-student basketball game, and powder puff football game. Each morning students are greeted with Words of Wisdom read by the principal or assistant principal. During the 2013-2014 school year our Character Education class held a No Bullying Rally that kicked off a Random Acts of Kindness Campaign.

We have an active Parent Teacher Organization that is instrumental in the upkeep of our school and providing social activities for our students. They provide the landscaping around our school. Each year the PTO sponsors a Maroon and White Scrimmage game between members of our football team. Students are able to attend to see our football team, cheerleaders and dance team in action. We try to keep our parents abreast of the happenings in our school and school system by maintaining a Facebook page, Twitter account, and website. We also utilize an automated calling system to notify parents of upcoming events and emergency events. We hold an orientation for incoming 7th graders and an open house for all students after school has begun.

We try to address the whole child while preparing them to be successful in the world beyond Alexander City.