At Carolina Springs Elementary School, we help all students develop the World-Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by creating positive relationships among students and staff alike, and providing engaging classroom learning experiences. Based on our academic progress on SC READY testing as well as i-Ready testing, CSES was designated by Lexington District One as a “School on the Move” this year.
Our school encourages students to be able to think critically, and solve problems collaboratively and creatively. In order to meet the unique, whole child needs of each student in our building, CSES has placed an emphasis on providing students with the opportunity to have daily character-building activities. Every classroom teacher begins their day with a morning meeting and ends with a closing circle. During these meetings, students are often given an opportunity to share their thoughts, celebrate their successes and give feedback on how they can promote their own personal growth, enabling students to learn to communicate with one another and the fundamental skills involved in such communications.
This Responsive Classroom approach provided much-needed social-emotional support to students and staff. Student-centered activities create strong bonds among classmates and the classroom teacher. Our staff also recommitted to reteaching schoolwide expectations to encourage positive student conduct. This was essential for us to grow as a school family in our interactions with each other, thus enabling our staff to provide meaningful experiences for the children of CSES.
Refining our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support program at CSES was an integral part of the 2023–2024 school year. Committing themselves to representing our schoolwide expectations of being Respectful, Responsible, Trustworthy and having Pride in all that they do, students again had the opportunity to earn “Blaze Bucks.” This recognition culminated at the end of each nine weeks with a schoolwide pep rally. These celebrations of students’ successes were filled with excitement, among both the children and staff, and recognition for all of the hard work done not only behaviorally, but also academically. In addition to celebrating students, teachers too were honored with an award for being a “Leader of the Pack.” This designation was given by fellow teachers and sparked even closer relationships amongst our amazing faculty. At CSES, we recognize the impact our staff has not only on each other and our students, but the families of each child who walks through our doors. This year a “Shout Out Board'' was created and placed in a central location in the school. Praise from parents in our community for our incredible group of teachers and staff were posted on the board for all to see.
As a proud Title 1 School in our district, we served more than 700 students in the 2023–24 school year. Our staff understands the challenges that some families may encounter and as the largest Title 1 elementary school in the district, we strive to explore every avenue possible to enhance the learning and environment of our students. Through Title 1 funding, we have been able to provide all school supplies for students for the past two years and have hosted a “Sponsored Book Fair” where every student in our school has been able to select two books of their choosing at no cost to them. The smiles on their faces while watching them carefully select books they’ve been wanting are priceless — this is an event we plan to continue as long as we are able. The funding received also allows us to have a full-time mathematics instructional coach and certified interventionist on staff. Our math coach has proved invaluable over the past year as evidenced by the impressive improvement of scores on standardized testing. Finally, a 14-week program headed by Lisa Harrington called “Knee High Huskies” for 3- and 4-year-old children and their parents who are not currently enrolled in a Lexington One preschool program is also offered twice a year at no cost to the families.
CSES has several afterschool activities our students are able to participate in, such as Garden Club, Run Hard and the archery team. Kimmy Miller, along with several other dedicated teachers, led the Run Hard program, where students trained for a 5K race while learning valuable leadership lessons, building character and developing perseverance.
Since the 2021–2022 school year, CSES has maintained a successful archery program. Under the direction of Haley Hite and other teachers, fourth and fifth graders have the opportunity to compete in both Bullseye and IBO tournaments. With nine top 3 finishes and a remarkable fourth place showing at the State competition, CSE’s archery team participated at Nationals in May for the third year in a row. In the spring, we offer students a chance to participate in our CSES Variety Show. Each child who takes part practices after school, then proudly shows off their talents on our stage in front of a live audience. The Variety Show is always full of laughs, amazing musical gifts and incredible feats of athleticism, bringing the packed room to its feet by its conclusion.
Our SIC and PTO continue to place family engagement at the forefront of their agendas. Parental engagement this past year has been one of the best ever, with record-breaking turnouts for Student-Led Conferences, Skate Night, the Father/Daughter Dance, STEM Night, Mother/Son Glow Golf and Math Night at Food Lion. Feedback from these events have been overwhelmingly positive, with parents and students alike singing the praises of all who worked tirelessly to put these events together. Along with family engagement, the PTO has dedicated its time to fundraising efforts for our school and the improvement of our beloved campus. In the fall, students participated in the annual “Fun Run,” and with the addition of the Color Run for fourth and fifth grade students, this event was a highlight for many. Once again, our dedicated PTO members and volunteers ran our “Holiday Shop,” a place where students were able to purchase gifts for others before the winter break. Not only were we able to help our children pick gifts for their loved ones, but we managed to raise a record-breaking amount that will go directly back into the improvement of our beloved campus. Finally, we capped off the fundraising year in the spring with a Dance Marathon, an annual weeklong event that concluded with an exciting “glow party” in the gym.
We are thankful for the special families and community as a whole that have been a part of CSES for many years. As we sadly say good-bye to the families that are relocating to the new school opening in our attendance area, South Lake Elementary School, we are excited about all of the opportunities ahead. Our current staff and students cannot wait to “Dive into Learning!” for the 2024–2025 school year.
Todd C. Brown, Principal
Ashley Teague, SIC Chair
