School Address
2390 Hillsboro Rd.
Franklin , TN 37069
Phone:  615-472-4500
Fax:  615-472-4511

School Colors
Blue and Gray

School Mascot
General

Principal
Susan Curtis

Assistant Principals
Chris Hawkins
Charlotte Pitcher

Enrollment
1050

Pupil/Teacher Ratio
6^th grade 23.14
7^th grade 27.08
8^th grade 23.78 

Zoning Maps

School History
Grassland Middle School was opened in 1986 for 500 students in grades five through eight. The building's first principal was Dr. Ann Vaughn. In 1990 Walnut Grove Elementary School was opened and the fifth graders were moved back to the elementary school. This dropped the enrollment to 450 sixth, seventh and eighth grade students who were served by sixteen classroom teachers and six support staff. In that same year Mr. Barry Watkins was hired as the building's second principal. He remained principal until 1999 when he was named Director of Middle Schools for Williamson County.

Today, with Dr. Susan Curtis as principal, as the enrollment approaches 1100 students, 90 staff members provide educational services in regular education, related arts and special education programs.

Community
Grassland Middle School is nestled in a valley of the Harpeth River and is surrounded by the rolling hills of north-central Williamson County, Tennessee. Located three miles south of Old Hickory on Hillsboro Road, GMS serves the families living in the subdivisions and farms between Brentwood, Franklin and Fairview. Within the boundaries of its attendance area, residents can enjoy three golf courses, an active community recreation program, the scenic Harpeth River and the breath-taking Natchez Trace Parkway.

 

Parent Support Organization
The Parents’ Club at GMS is very active. Parents are involved in all aspects of the school. They have two voting seats on the building leadership team, sponsor a community involvement program, GMS Café, and volunteer in the school on a daily basis.

Special Programs
Gifted and Resource Consultant Services and several Learning Labs

Library/Media Center
Students are scheduled by teachers to do research and check out books. Card files and periodicals are accessed by computer. Students may do research on the Internet. The Media Center also has summer hours so that students may continue to have access to all types of media.

Academics
The teachers and staff are dedicated to creating a student-centered environment for the students at GMS. To accomplish this, only the most talented teachers are employed.  They are involved in staff development and training each year and are encouraged and supported in their commitment to provide stimulating, engaging learning experiences for students.

This year sees continued focus upon academic excellence for all students with an increased emphasis on building relationships between teachers and students and students and their peers. Two outstanding programs, Capturing Kids’ Hearts and the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program are being introduced to help provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for all students.

All grade levels (6th-8th) have been reorganized into four-teacher teams. This will enable our core teachers to focus on only one subject: math, language arts, science or social studies. Considering the enormous amount of preparation that must be done on a daily basis and the nation’s emphasis on NCLB, we felt that it was important to decrease the number of preparations for our teachers. Sixth grade will have four teams: Green, Orange, Purple, and Yellow. Seventh grade will have three teams: Gold, Onyx and Silver. Eighth grade will also have three teams: Red, White and Blue. Each team’s members will work together to coordinate lessons, schedule tests, and build relationships.

GMS teachers are able to implement progressive program improvements for their students due in large measure to the high expectations parents have for their children and for the strong support the teachers and staff receive from the Grassland community.

The most recent Tennessee Achievement Test scores for Grassland Middle School students appear below. The scores represent the mean achievement in terms of learning Tennessee’s state curriculum rather than comparing GMS students with a national group. Listed is the percent of students at each grade level who scored proficient or advanced in the four core areas. This number is out of 100 percent.

Guidance
GMS counselors are certified professionals who support the personal growth and educational development of all students. The counselors work with parents, teachers and administrators in a consulting role as they tackle together the concerns and needs of the students.

STARS
Stars is a school-based program dedicated to helping students make healthy lifestyle choices and to refrain from the use of alcohol, other drugs and violence. We offer prevention activities and intervention counseling and support groups. We work with a core team of trained faculty and a student executive council.

Athletics
Cross country; volleyball; football; soccer; wrestling; basketball; baseball; softball; track; tennis; golf; lacrosse; cheerleading and dance.

Extra Curricular Activities
Alpha Club,  Student Council, National Junior Honor Society, Newspaper Staff, Destination Imagination, S.T.A.R.S. Executive Council, Yearbook Staff, Model UN, Youth Legislature, Variety Show, Math Club, WGMS Staff, Drama Club, Book Club, Science Club, Knitwits, and Peppers.

Site Based Management
Since 1990 Grassland Middle has employed a teacher empowerment model for decision-making patterned after the recommendations found in Turning Points, the 1990 report on middle schools published by the Carnegie Foundation. In 1997 the GMS staff adopted a new model based upon the effective schools research conducted by Dr. Larry Lezotte at Michigan State University. In 1998 the model was fine-tuned to capture the best of both approaches. In recent years GMS and Williamson County Schools have been implementing the strategies of Phil Schlecty and the Schlecty Center, a center for leadership in educational reform, where the major focus is on creating challenging and engaging work for students. In 2007 we have added the Capturing Kids’ Hearts and Olweus Bullying Prevention Program to improve our focus on the whole child. We currently have a Building Leadership Team composed of one representative from each of the ten academic teams, one from each of the two related arts teams, one from the student support team and one from the auxiliary services team. They are joined by two parents and the three administrators. This team meets monthly to address the concerns of their peers and to pursue the goals set out in the 2006-07 School Improvement Plan.