Cayce Elementary School is focused on helping students develop the World Class Knowledge and Skills and the Life and Career Characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing a safe, caring, accepting, and academically challenging learning environment. We are committed to growing all students by providing a customized learning experience to meet each student's unique academic, social, and emotional needs. Our teachers are committed to providing students with the tools necessary to succeed in the 21st century through rigorous, differentiated instruction and data-driven decision-making.
At Cayce Elementary School, our goal is to build strong, positive relationships with our students, families, and community, and to utilize collaborative learning, parental involvement, and high-quality instruction to create a nurturing environment that celebrates the school’s diverse cultures. One way Cayce builds these relationships is through family events, and during the 2023-2024 school year these included a Family Literacy Night, Trunk or Treat Community Night, a book publishing party, and more. Cayce also is a Unified Champion School for Special Olympics, and the 2023-2024 school year saw an expansion of its activities to include students from other district schools, along with volunteers from the high schools and athletes from the University of South Carolina. Cayce’s outstanding and sustained commitment to families earned recognition from the Carolina Family Engagement Center, part of the SC School Improvement Council at the University of South Carolina College of Education. It has also led to increases in the percentage of families who say they are happy with school/home relations.
Cayce is a Leader in Me School, a program based on Dr. Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that helps students develop skills to prepare them to succeed through the next stages of their lives. In its nearly 5 years at Cayce, the program has helped develop stronger positive relationships between students and adults at the school. It also has allowed students to take leadership roles in the building and take greater ownership of their education, including setting academic goals (“Wildly Important Goals”, or WIGs) and collecting and tracking data in their Student Leadership Notebooks. In the 2023-2024 school year, students developed personal WIGs to work toward and chart throughout the year to go along with schoolwide WIGs. We believe this will further our students’ ownership of their learning and lead to even greater progress in their development as 21st-century learners. Students shared their development and personal growth during our Community Leadership Events throughout the year, as well as a student-led, year-end Leadership Day summarizing the year’s activities.
At Cayce, we know the importance of developing the whole child. In addition to Girls on the Run and the Beta Club, in 2023-2024 our School Resource Officer, working with administrators, launched DOVES (Developing, Original, Vibrant, Educated Sisters), focusing on service and empowering young ladies of all races to set goals, support each other, and be successful. Partnerships with Southern First Bank, the United Way of the Midlands Reading Consortium, Cayce United Methodist Church, Holland Avenue Baptist Church, House of Raeford, Trinity Baptist Church, Golden State Foods, and Woodmen of the World provided food, supplies, and mentoring for our students. The Cayce community has supported helping the school gather resources to support our families beyond immediate academic needs. We will continue to build a supportive school culture to not only support student learning but to grow engaged citizens for the future.
The Cayce Elementary family is excited about the work ahead. We are committed to making innovative learning opportunities a reality, supporting teachers to empower all students to reach their potential as South Carolina graduates with World Class Knowledge, Skills, and Life and Career Characteristics.
Andrew Drozdak, Principal
