Chicora Elementary is helping all students develop the world class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by focusing on critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Never have we had to focus more on communication and collaboration than the challenges of this school year. While we opened our doors for those wishing to return for face to face instruction, we also provided our virtual students iPads and Chromebooks so they received daily instruction. Through the eLearning format we offered Lexia for reading and ALEKS and Dreambox for math. These platforms allowed our students to practice at their instructional level while classroom instruction was given at the grade level to challenge students to use critical thinking skills. Our students developed skills of perseverance and self-direction to reach their personal goals. As a PBIS and Second Steps school there is a schoolwide discipline plan in place allowing students to develop interpersonal skills that will help them throughout their lives.
Many of our teachers have been trained with Kagan structures to introduce cooperative learning strategies into the classroom. We teach our students to work as members of a team to support not only their learning, but also their fellow classmates. As we create a sense of shared responsibility around collaborative work, students are able to demonstrate the ability to work effectively and respectfully with peers.
We have a partnership with Charleston Promise Neighborhood (CPN). They held some zoom family nights allowing for STEM activities and sponsored our summer enrichment program. We communicated with parents through our Website and Facebook page on a regular basis. While we could not host families in person, we were able to offer monthly Make it/Take it zoom workshops in addition to the CPN activities to keep our families involved with their child’s learning.
While this year has been a challenge, we look forward to continued partnerships with our families and communities to support our students in becoming lifelong learners.
Deborah Smith, Interim Principal
Kelly Evans, SIC Chair
