| Carson Middle School | |
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Someplace Special
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| Location | |
| 200 Hillvue Lane Pittsburgh, PA 15237 United States |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1974 |
| School district | North Allegheny School District |
| Principal | Katherine Jenkins |
| Grades | 6–8 |
| Color(s) | Black and Gold |
| Athletics | Football, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, boys lacrosse, girls field hockey, wrestling, cheerleading, softball, baseball, boys and girls volleyball, track and field, cross country, ice hockey, various afternoon intramurals |
| Athletics conference | WPIAL |
| Mascot | Tiger |
| Website | Carson Middle School |
Carson Middle School (CMS) is a middle school in the North Allegheny School District. The school is located in McCandless Township, Pennsylvania. Carson Middle School has high standards in education and athletics, having one of the highest PSSA testing scores in Pennsylvania, along with many of the other schools in the North Allegheny School District. Carson Middle School was founded in 1974, but North Allegheny had used the building as an intermediate high school until 1969.
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Carson Middle School began as Carson Intermediate High School (CIHS), built in 1969. It was named for North Allegheny Senior High School's then-principal John T. Carson and served grades 9 and 10. In 1974, grades 9 and 10 moved to the current building of North Allegheny Intermediate High School. CIHS's name changed to Carson Middle School, for grades 6 to 8.
In 1994, Carson was named a Blue Ribbon school. To display this, a blue ribbon is shown above one of the entrances to the school.
There is also another middle school named Carson Middle School [1] located in Tucson, AZ that is owned by the Tucson Unified School District and was built in 1967. It could be planned to close the school and the future of this school is in jeopardy.
The school starts at 8:20 AM and ends at 3:08 PM. There are 8 classes in a day, including the lunch period. Each period lasts 48 minutes, with the exception of the lunch periods, which last 30 minutes. There are 15 minutes allocated for reading, called SSR, also known as DEAR each day.
The bell schedule is based on a system revolving around the lunch periods. Since each grade eats lunch at different times, periods 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are either 30 minutes or 18 minutes long. Two pairs of these period names are attached every day to make a single period, such as "Period 4/5", "Period 5/6", or "Period 7/8". This changes for different grades, i.e. in 6th grade, a period might be called 5/6, and in 7th grade, a period might be called 4/5.
Each school day is either an "A Day" or a "B Day". If one school day is an A Day, the next school day will be a B Day, and so on. The purpose of these names are to switch special classes, like a musical class, which are Band, Orchestra, Chorus, and General Music, and a Physical Education class. On A Days, a student will either have a music class or a P.E. class, and the next day, he/she will have the other one.
Usually, Wednesdays and Thursdays of every week have what are called "Activity Periods." This is a 41-minute long study hall at the end of the day. Students can do their homework, study, visit the school library or a computer lab, make up tests, etc.
Schedules change on 2-hour Delay days due to weather or technical problems. On these days, classes are shortened and if there is an Activity Period scheduled, it is canceled.
In 2009, the 8th grade was ranked 7th out of 141 western Pennsylvania middle schools based on three years of student academic achievement in PSSAs in: reading, math writing and one year of science.[1] (Includes schools in: Allegheny County, Beaver County, Butler County, Fayette County, Westmoreland County, and Washington County.)
8th Grade Reading
8th Grade Math:
8th Grade Science:
7th Grade Reading
7th Grade Math:
6th Grade Reading:
6th Grade Math:
Once a month, Carson Middle School hosts the River City Brass Band. The band performs in the auditorium on a Friday night.
An activity available to students is the Technology Student Association, or TSA. The goal of the program is make available to students competitions including Graphic Design, Woodwork, Speeches, or Art, in which the student and his/her team takes part in. The organization aimed at students who enjoy Technology Education. Examples of what can be entered are CO2 cars, websites, artwork, and speeches. Many students in Carson who enter this championship win first in regional, and state conferences. Few, however, win at nationals.
The National Academic League, or NAL for short, is an academic sport throughout the United States in which many school districts participate in. In the 2007-2008 school year, Carson Middle School was the national champion after defeating Stapley Junior High School of Mesa, Arizona in the Final, and Millcreek Junior High of Bountiful, Utah, in the Semifinals. However, Marshall Middle School replaced CMS as the regional champions in subsequent years.
Coaches of the NAL team of Carson are Rita Martin, the librarian, and Susan Bentz, a 7th grade mathematics teacher.
The annual talent show at Carson is a show where students can audition to perform their talents for their families and peers. The show is usually held in March, and auditions are often held between November and January. Students practice at least once a week, unless practice is canceled. This time is spent preparing for the show held for families and community members in the evening and the one show performed for the school during a regular school day.
GOAL (Gifted Opportunities for Advanced Learning) is a gifted student program in North Allegheny, where students scoring high on assessment tests, like PSSA or IOWA testing, take a specialized test to get into the GOAL program. The gifted program adds extra curriculum to a regular class, when one or two days per week are reserved for the GOAL teacher to come into the class and teach the students alternative skills than the ones that other students take regularly.
The Carson GOAL teacher is Ann Hilty.
Carson is also home to the 2008 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year, David Woten, Jr. He is the choral teacher for grades 6 and 7, and also one of the general music teachers to grade 8.[6]
Mrs. Anne Funk was honored in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for being 2009 Pennsylvania Orchestra Teacher of the Year.
On March 7, 2008, Dr. Marcia Martin died from cancer. She was the 15-year principal of Carson Middle School from 1989 to 2004, and was a teacher in Carson earlier for another 16 years.[7]
In April 2008, Mr. Doug Johnson, a Spanish teacher at Carson Middle School, died after having a stroke.
John Yastion, a custodian at Carson Middle School since 2003, was recognized for saving a man's life after he had a seizure, on November 13, 2008. He was commended by the North Allegheny Board of Directors for his actions.[8]