Mt. Zion Elementary is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by implementing strategies and programs that build our students' creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills.

Our mission, working in partnership with students, staff, parents, and the community, is to ensure that all students are provided a high quality education through a curriculum that utilizes approaches based on content advancement, analysis of abstract themes or concepts, development of complex thinking processes, and transformation of learning into creative products.

The faculty and staff work with The Buck Institute to become trained in implementing Project Based Learning with fidelity. PBL allows students opportunities to engage in solving real world problems or answering complex questions. Students demonstrate what they have learned by developing a product or a presentation for a real audience. As a result, students develop deep content knowledge, critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills while completing their projects.

Faculty and staff will continue to develop students’ ability to read and write creatively and critically by implementing shared inquiry strategies. Teachers engage in ongoing professional development with the Jr. Great Books Foundation to learn effective questioning and other strategies important to the analysis of literature.

The faculty, staff, and parents look forward to seeing the results of these strategies designed to increase our students’ ability to read and write critically, encourage creative thinking and problem solving, and prepare students for college, career, and citizenship.

Deborah Fordham, Principal

Yvonne Johnstone, SIC Chair