Mauldin Elementary is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by following our school mission statement "Empower all individuals to explore with purpose, lead with intention, and persevere in seeking solutions." We believe that our children should be challenged, engaged, and empowered through the learning process as they begin now to prepare for college and careers. We accomplish this through the implementation of our state standards and specialized programs.
Our teachers are always seeking to learn new and effective strategies to use in the classroom such as: Balanced Literacy, Lucy Calkins Units of Study for Writing, Guided Reading, Google Apps for the classroom, Genius Hour, enrichment activities, problem based learning, Effective Math strategies including small groups, Reading Recovery, and interventionist focusing on researched based interventions to meet student needs. One of the many opportunities at Mauldin Elementary where our students have to explore with purpose, lead with intention and persevere in seeking solutions is in our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) Lab. Our students have opportunities to link what they are learning in the classroom to the lab and the experiences prepare our students with world class skills. In the lab, students are engaged in hands-on activities that promote problem solving, collaboration, creating, thinking and working through solutions. We are excited to see our classrooms and instruction reflect the 21st Century while preparing our students with college and career skills.
We have various programs at Mauldin Elementary outside the academic world to focus on the development of the whole child. School-wide we have continued using the Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) program which rewards students for displaying positive behaviors. Students have the opportunity to earn Eagle Bucks and exchange them for prizes or can purchase their attendance to the quarterly behavior bashes. In addition, our students are celebrated for making positive behavior choices on the news and through Terrific Kids. Additionally this year, we partnered with Mentor Upstate to train and match adult mentors with forty of our students. This has proven to be a great opportunity for our children to build a relationship with others in the community that care. Focusing on the needs of our learners, we also implemented a Real Men Read and Lead group that met once a month. This was a group of 4th and 5th grade boys who would eat lunch together and would hear from a male community representative who would talk about life skills and the importance of reading. Other activities include: State and National award winning Beta club, Lego club, art club, Girls On The Run, running club, chorus, STEM teams, and an afterschool Extended Day program. We are very proud of our student’s accomplishments.
Our school counselors have continued the implementation of a Comprehensive School Counseling Program. This program includes our counselors working with individuals, groups, and teaching classroom lessons. Classroom lessons were aligned to our school improvement plan and our school’s focus on Sean Covey’s 7 Habits to Happy Kids. Groups are designed based on achievement data and student needs. This year our counselors lead academic success, anger, I Matter (self-image) and friendship groups. The data used to determine the effectiveness of our comprehensive program showed positive results for our students and school. Our school counselors also provided Lunch and Learn sessions for parents on topics parents have identified as areas of interest.
Mauldin Elementary has a very active and supportive Parent Teacher Association (PTA). PTA has many dads or dad-like figures as Watch D.O.G.S, (Dads of Great Students). When a Dad or dad like figure is a Watch D.O.G.S. then he spends a day volunteering at the school. PTA also partnered with the School Improvement Council (SIC) for a Family Science Night and a Family Reading Night. Both of the family nights were designed to enhance student knowledge of science and reading while enabling them to interact with their parents. Our PTA focuses on student educational needs. This is evident by the funding the PTA provides to purchase books for our leveled book room, funding the staff for before school tutoring, and funding teacher grants for instructional materials in the classroom. One example of how our PTA seeks to meet the personal needs of our students and families is through a back pack program – through which students who need them receive bags of food. The partnership between PTA and the school has had a positive impact on the success of our students.
At Mauldin Elementary we believe the school, family, and community must share the educational responsibility for our children. Thank you for all your support in helping in the development of our future South Carolina graduates and world leaders!
Ms. Melissa Creazzo, Chair of the School Improvement Council
Dr. Jamie Spinks, Principal