Charleston Progressive Academy (CPA) is helping all students develop the world class skills expected in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. Our school’s mission, “Building Tomorrow’s Leaders,” supports active engagement as we implement Franklin Covey’s Leader in Me (LIM) initiative. LIM provides opportunities that encourage critical thinking, collaboration, and communication as it teaches the 7 Habits of Effective People in a student-friendly language, and is directly aligned with the world class skills of the South Carolina Graduates.
It was evident that we significantly increased student collaboration, communication and critical thinking during the 2018-19 school year. We implemented the LIM’s Empowering Instruction Model, which activated student-led learning experiences. It promotes the inclusion of group investigations in which students effectively collaborate about their learning. The goal of this model is to incorporate opportunities for critical thinking for children to gain a deeper understanding of the content. The implementation of this rigorous instructional model contributed to each grade level’s spring-to-spring growth. As a result, the school’s overall growth increased in reading from 42.5% to 52.4% and in math from 38.5% to 50.3%.
We continued to provide opportunities for students to effectively use technology in the classroom. Continuous access to iPads and Chromebooks provided a plethora of adaptive digital content for students. Schoolwide, students were given interactive support in reading with the use of Lexia and in math with Dreambox. We were able to focus on the effectiveness of these programs this year. Students averaged 35 minutes per week with 43% of students showing growth on Dreambox. With Lexia, students averaged 60 minutes of usage per week and experienced significant growth from August (27%) to June (70%). Our goal is to continue to effectively incorporate programs that align with the world class skills outlined in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.
As the first school in Charleston County to become a LIM Lighthouse School, we will continue to offer various leadership opportunities that exemplify collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. This will ensure the development of world class skills to increase the readiness for students at CPA. As educators, we know nothing is possible without the support of our parents and the community. We thank you for your continued support as we “Build Tomorrow’s Leaders!”
Wanda Wright-Sheats, Principal
Christina Whitfield, SIC Chair
