Greetings Everyone,

Welcome to Southwest Middle School, Home of the Patriots.  Southwest Middle School is nestled in one of the oldest naturally diverse communities in the city of Charlotte.  The rich history of strong neighborhoods and proximity to Lake Wylie has made the Steele Creek area highly desirable. Southwest Middle has been transformed from previous years to support the continued student growth and by ensuring that the school community is an active partner in the education experience. This action occurs by working closely with school leadership through parent surveys, townhall meetings, school leadership team and PTSA meetings. The school's core values at Southwest Middle focuses on the importance of embracing the uniqueness of our scholars and ensuring that all scholars receive high quality instruction.

We are proud to offer a wide range of rigorous academic programs at our school such as Spanish A/B, NC Math I, NC Math II, and Math III which are high school-level courses. We are extremely proud of our award-winning arts programs, including visual arts, dance, chorus, orchestra, and band who have achieved superior ratings at state/regional competitions.  Our career technology education department is aligned to the feeder high schools and offers software development, environmental science, and engineering courses.  Our students work in tandem with Olympic High School and the Junior Achievement Program to simulate real work experiences.

Our faculty infuse AVID learning opportunities to meet the needs of each child in a classroom.  We utilize the EL literacy curriculum in grades 6-8, the Open Up Math, and a new Math I curriculum in grades 6-8.  We place daily emphasis on social-emotional learning and offer a comprehensive SEL curriculum called Caring Schools.  We have full- and part-time support staff members, including four school counselors, a social worker, three social-emotional learning and behavior interventionists, mental health therapists, and a school psychologist.  We are proud to offer services in the areas of English as a Second Language and Exceptional Children, which includes two EC-Extension's classrooms. 

Our students are involved in various clubs and sports which allow for school culture to connect in the area of school pride.  Our Model UN, National Junior Honor Society, and other civic organizations allow for students to discover the power of servant leadership. These opportunities are aligned with the best practices of the middle school environment. As a result, our scholars learn self-efficacy, teamwork, and leadership.

I look forward to our partnership in your child's educational journey.

Sincerely,

Principal Merita Little