PARTNERSHIP MIDDLE SCHOOL

REIMAGINING MIDDLE SCHOOL
for 21st Century Students & Educators

The MSU-SOCSD Partnership Middle School is impacting the future of education in our state and community, investing in the education of middle level students and the training of pre-service and in-service teachers -- all under one roof. 

Housing 6th and 7th grade students in Oktibbeha County, the school offers a unique and innovative opportunity to bridge the gap between elementary and secondary level education while also providing real-world experiences and facilitating research-based best practices for teacher training. 

• Innovative practices and collaborative learning spaces ignite the spark of excellence for students in the middle grades. 
• State of the art facilities and world-class resources create a district-wide hub of STEM learning for robotics, environmental sciences, mathematics, literacy, and the arts.
• Pre-service and in-service teachers collaborate to research, develop and dynamically implement best practices in classroom instruction. 

Groundbreaking Partnerships
Located on the campus of Mississippi State University, Partnership Middle School is the only school in the country that serves ALL district students in partnership with a college or university. This partnership and proximity to campus resources offers a wealth of learning opportunities for students from field trips and extra-curricular partnerships to visits from collegiate athletes and class activities, labs and projects hosted by educators from a variety of academic disciplines. Each year, students from Partnership Middle School are able to visit campus museums, athletic venues, traveling exhibits and performances on the MSU Campus. Students also visit various departments as part of strategic career exploration and exposure to a variety of job opportunities.

Individualized, Personalized Educational Experience 
Teachers at Partnership Middle School share the District's vision of excellence and our responsibility to ensure that every child receives a personalized education in a student-centered, 21st century learning environment that inspires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and communication.  With a focus on best practices and innovative excellence, our teachers engage our students through creative, hands-on learning experiences. 

A Space for Excellence 
Maker space, collaborative work places inside our schools, focuses on student-centered in quiry and support peer collaboration while encouraging our students to engage in conversations and build relationships as they learning together.  

Arts, Sports & Extra-curricular Activities  
Our middle school Jackets can pursue their interests in the arts through the award-winning general art, choir, theatre and band programs. An innovative Piano Lab allows students to begin group piano instruction in 6th grade and continue through high school, if desired. SOSD is also proud to offer beginning classes in strings as one of our many partnership with Mississippi State University. The strings program is designed and taught by shared faculty with the MSU Department of Music who specialize in orchestra for young musicians. 

From Science, Chess and Anime to Ambassadors, Cooking and Robotics, our middle school students may participate in nearly 20 clubs and organizations on campus. Beginning in 7th grade, students are also eligible to compete in one of the Starkville Yellow Jackets' 20 MHSAA sports.

1:1 Technology
Starkville Oktibbeha School District offers a 1:1 digital environment with Chromebooks for secondary students to support an emphasis on project-based learning and 21st century performance areas: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

Our Best Boy, Tucker
Partnership Middle School is the only campus in the Starkville Oktibbeha School District that has a four-footed furry friend! Tucker, a golden doodle, serves as our campus emotional support animal, and he takes his job very seriously. Therapy dogs like Tucker not only have a positive effect on emotional wellness, but they also influence cognitive development. Interacting with therapy dogs improves students' reading skills, stimulates memory and problem-solving skills, and even optimizes executive-functioning skills.

GrOW Classroom
In 2020, the Starkville Oktibbeha School District was awarded a $900,000 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Mississippi to support the District’s overarching goal to create school environments that emphasize healthy living. As part of the grant, SOSD created the GrOW (Gardening & Overall Wellness) Classroom at Partnership Middle School to offer students a seed to table experience including gardening, cooking and general wellness curriculum. The GrOW classroom introduces all sixth-graders to nutrition, gardening, wellness activities and healthy behaviors. Seventh-graders maintain their own classroom “garden pod” that is incorporated into academic subjects such as science, math and language arts.