Waccamaw Elementary School is located just outside of Conway, South Carolina and is a part of the Carolina Forest attendance area. The school serves approximately 1012 students in grades Pre-K through fifth grade in the 2023-24 school year. Currently, approximately 52% of WES students are Caucasian, 17% Black or African American, 20% Hispanic/Latino, <1% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 8% two or more races. The WES poverty rate is 70.67%.
Our school is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. Currently Waccamaw Elementary School has 82 Professional staff members who work diligently to ensure growth for all students at WES.
The mission of Waccamaw Elementary School, a diverse and growing community of unique individuals, is to ensure that each child will experience optimal social, emotional, academic, and physical success through a challenging and progressive child-centered educational program in a safe and healthy learning environment.
The vision of Waccamaw Elementary is to be a premier, world-class school in which every student acquires an excellent education. Our school will be a welcoming center organized around high-quality teaching and learning. Our vision is guided by a set of beliefs that serve as the foundation for all our efforts.
Foremost, we believe that our purpose is to develop the potential of each student and ensure that all students become productive members of their community, able to adapt to a diverse, ever-changing world. We also believe that we have the obligation to challenge every student to meet higher academic standards than his/her current level. To accomplish this, we believe that our students deserve exceptional and passionate staff, who share our core values. Our core values are:
• We put service to students above all else.
• We take responsibility for the success of all students.
• We care passionately about our work with children.
• We build strong positive relationships with students, staff, parents, and community.
• We model and promote civility and integrity.
Our staff is diligent in providing appropriate education for all students through small groups, interventions groups, ESOL services, gifted/talented class, "high-flyer" groups and special education services.
At Waccamaw Elementary we foster a culture of LISTENERS, LEARNERS and LEADERS to become contributing members of our community and society. We strive to demonstrate The Waccamaw Way, every day. Waccamaw Elementary staff focus on building strong relationships with students, families and the community. Our staff partner with Coastal Carolina University to provide unique opportunities for mentor support, and one-on-one instructional support from CCU students. We have a variety of community partnerships which include work with local service clubs including Rotary and Rotaract. The Rotary Club provides items and funding for our clothes closet, used to support students and families in need. Waccamaw Elementary participates in events including the American Heart Association Kids Heart Challenge. WES staff collaborate with local churches to support students and staff throughout the year.
WES staff partner with local middle and high schools, along with special program schools, to enhance student learning and encourage family connection during transition. WES partners with Black Water Middle School staff to hold a collaborative family middle school transition session with WES families. Carolina Forest High School athletes visit to educate our students on future opportunities, CFHS students mentor WES students, CFHS Art Honor Society students create artwork for special projects at WES and CFHS seniors hold a “Senior Walk” through the halls of WES where seniors wear caps and gowns, and our WES students celebrate the accomplishments of these seniors. District academies also support learning at WES with special collaborations, such as providing a special Teddy Bear Clinic where Academy for Arts, Science and Technology students teach WES kindergarteners about visiting the doctor. These events foster cluster and district collaboration and help families focus on the overarching, long-range goal of high school graduation.
The WES School Improvement Council, PTO, and various community organizations support our students and staff. The WES Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) sponsors activities throughout the year such as our annual Winter Wonderland, Field Days, special staff lunches, and the 5th grade End of Year Drive Through Celebration. Our School Improvement Council meets regularly to include parents and community in our school's work. Title 1 funding helps us to offer frequent Parenting Workshops which provide parents with information about the academic curriculum and strategies to help students at home. We have high participation rates for these family and community events. Events include our annual Family Literacy Camp Out, STEM Night, various concerts, spring play, and the 5th grade end of year celebratory events.
Our staff strive to help students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing opportunities that challenge students in the areas of academic, personal, physical, and social development. Driven by SC State Standards, our staff provides a rigorous curriculum that includes opportunities for acceleration, remediation, and enrichment through small group instruction, intervention and the gifted/ talented program. Students in all grades have access to digital devices throughout the school day. 4th and 5th grade students are provided opportunities to explore colleges and careers during our “College Exploration Day”.
The school wide management system at Waccamaw Elementary is centered around our school-wide motto: “The Waccamaw Way: Listeners, Learners and Leaders”. Our school mascot, the WES Wildcat, makes appearances to enhance school culture. The faculty and staff of Waccamaw Elementary understand that it takes an entire school community working together to create student success. We expect our staff, students and community to help in creating a positive, safe, and nurturing learning environment for all members of our school. To accomplish this, we focus on character education through instruction of life skills. Students are recognized, celebrated and rewarded monthly for exhibiting life skills. Students can earn individual, class and school incentives, including our school store prizes from our Wildcat Wagon (CD-3rd grade) and our Waccamaw PRIME Store (4th and 5th grade). Our staff works diligently to help students reach their full potential. Students are recognized for their accomplishments and daily demonstration of “The Waccamaw Way”. This year we have continued our implementation of an explicit, direct social emotional learning program during our daily “Wildcat Community” block, and we strive to support students as they apply this learning throughout all of the instructional day and beyond.
Our teachers grow and work together by participating in professional development activities and focusing on instructional strategies to improve student achievement. Using grade-level collaborative planning time, teachers, coaches and administrators develop strategies for addressing student weaknesses, enriching the learning process and challenging students. We are committed to promoting a school environment conducive to learning and growing together. Establishing and maintaining a focus and connection to yearly school-wide goals helps us achieve this. Our goals for the 2023-24 school year were to: 1) Build positive RELATIONSHIPS, 2) AIM for GROWTH, and 3) ENGAGE students. Our school year theme was “HERE WE GROW”. Our focus is on helping students achieve their highest potential and ultimately become productive, contributing members of our community.
Leslie S. Huggins, Principal
Carolyn Cloutier, School Improvement Council (SIC) Chairperson
