Riverbank Elementary School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by creating a learning community that is safe, caring, and academically challenging. We are dedicated to our mission to grow lifelong readers, writers and problem solvers who will be college and career ready. Throughout the school year, our students receive rigorous instruction in all content areas using research-based best practices. Critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, collaboration, and perseverance are promoted and developed using real world problem-based learning. The community plays an active and supportive role in our students’ success. Our strong School Improvement Council (SIC), Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), and business supporters are focused on the needs of our learning community and continuous improvement in student achievement. Local churches and businesses continue to support our children with school supplies, clothing, and weekend food ministry programs. The Midlands Reading Consortium provides volunteers as reading buddies for students. Local businesses provide time and resources to discuss multiple careers and job opportunities in our area. Healthy Learners provides support for medical, physical, social, and emotional needs. Every student is learning to explore and discover solutions to problems using iPads or Chromebooks. Students use media and technology to research, communicate, and create original products for learning. With this technology, global information is at our students’ fingertips. Collaboration with partners and groups occurred frequently to develop our students’ interpersonal skills and teach the importance of working together to solve problems and create innovative solutions. Students enjoyed learning opportunities such as Project Lead the Way activities, as well as coding and programming robots. We offer programs outside of the academic world to promote the development of the whole child. Students may participate in the Run Hard program to build positive character traits and increase physical activity. All students may join His Love Club, and fifth-graders may participate in off-campus activities with the Schooltime Bible Club. Our mentoring program provided opportunities to develop and extend life skills, promote socialization, provide support, enhance soft skills development, and provide career exploration. Our Soccer Program, Beyond Goals, created time and opportunity to provide physical activity, social and emotional support, and model sportsmanship for our participants. Lex. 2.5 provided academic support three days a week after school. A Standards Based Grading night was held to introduce our parents to the updated grading system. Our teachers planned and hosted a very successful and enjoyable Community Math and Reading Night for our Riverbank students and families. Riverbank’s service projects included collecting canned goods for the Cayce Cares Holiday Project and Kidz in Lids. Our teachers are learners, too. Throughout the school year, our students received rigorous instruction in all content areas using research-based practices. Our attention was focused on the South Carolina College and Career Readiness Standards (SCCCR). Teachers increased the use of small group instruction in literacy and math, providing differentiation and individualized learning for our students. Problem-based learning using STEAM activities created more opportunities for student engagement, communication, and collaboration. Along with these professional learning practices, teachers engaged in Shifting the Balance training to incorporate reading strategies in the academic setting. Our desire as a faculty is to become a model Professional Learning Community where we work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students we serve. Teachers at Riverbank Elementary continually seek new ways to improve learning and participate in professional development. We attribute our many accomplishments to our hardworking learners as well as a dedicated and exceptional staff. In addition, our active PTO, SIC, and strong parent and community support have led to many great successes. We will continue working toward our mission to grow lifelong readers, writers, and problem solvers who will be college and career ready. We are thankful for the continued growth as we look forward to another great year at Riverbank Elementary.
David Sims, Principal
Katrina Suber, SIC Chairperson
