McCormick Elementary School Narrative
As a Comprehensive Support and Improvement School, our school has made great strides in improvement in all areas, which was proven in that in the past 3 years we have moved from unsatisfactory to average. Our students, teachers, parents, and community are important to us. Every staff member in our school served on a School Improvement Team (SIT) and had a tremendous impact on creating a positive and safe learning community for our students. We truly believe that we are a “Team” where “together everyone achieves more.” We have implemented measures to ensure success and inclusion for all stakeholders.
We have worked hard to seek and honor feedback from our stakeholders. We sent out parent surveys for several different reasons throughout the year, and the feedback gained from these surveys has made an impact on the effectiveness of leadership. We had Principal Pow Wow informal meetings where parents and community members could come and have casual conversations with the principal and admin team regarding the school. Our Academic Culture SIT Team partnered with our School Improvement Council (SIC) to improve family participation in school activities. We put forth great effort to stay in touch with our community and families to keep them informed. We had a literacy night with guest authors, Christmas programs, academic celebrations, and our second performance showcase presenting School House Rock! We also held a SCREADY meeting for parents of students in grades 3-5. We hosted an ice cream social for parents to meet the teachers and invited parents in for conferences regularly. We were even able to get our PTO reorganized
We continued to implement our Science of Reading curriculum, Amplify CKLA. Alongside this curriculum, teachers and administrators also completed Volume 2 of the LETRS course to enhance our reading instructional practices, particularly in early literacy skills. Our teachers have continued to use high-quality instructional strategies, including the use of flexible groups for small group and intervention instruction. Our district is a Personalized Learning Lighthouse District, and our school has implemented many personalized learning strategies to improve student outcomes. We made some significant changes to our schedule to provide additional instructional opportunities that enhance the learning experience for all children. In addition to dedicating time for flexible groups and intervention, we were able to provide time for enrichment clubs daily for all students. During this time, students had the opportunity to participate in an enrichment club of their choosing. After every nine weeks, students could choose a new club to attend. These enrichment clubs integrate ELA, Math, Science, and SS standards as well as the arts.
We have also enhanced the MTSS framework to include four interventionists for Tier 2 and Tier 3 students. The interventionists push into classrooms or pull students out to provide small group and one-on-one instruction. Additionally, teachers are supported by Reading and Math Coaches, and MCSD MTSS Director, who assist teachers in examining data, differentiating instruction, and otherwise improving student outcomes. We will continue to use our data and feedback to drive instruction and adjust the practices and structures of our curriculum.
Our school and district are working diligently to improve Social and Emotional Learning for our students. Our guidance counselor delivers classroom lessons bi-weekly to all students. We have implemented a new PBIS system of support. We have hired a district Social Worker as well as another Social Emotional Support position to ensure that our students are receiving the support needed for success. We have trained all faculty and staff in the Bullying Prevention Program, OLWEUS, and have regular check-ins with students to identify and support students if bullying has been reported. We use MTSS Teams, Data Team meetings, Grade Level Team meetings, and Leadership Team meetings to analyze SEL data to support our students' needs. We have seen a drastic decrease in discipline incidents due to these practices.
To develop our teachers professionally, we implemented professional learning communities (PLC) that have led to a greater level of teacher participation and ownership. We were excited to implement PLC at Work practices this year. We sent a leadership team of interventionists and coaches to the PLC at Work conference. We began with a focus on Math. Teams met once a week with coaches to plan math units. Administrators, teachers, coaches, and interventionists dissected the standards, created common-form pre-post assessments for each unit, analyzed the data to form flex grouping based on student needs for each unit, and made adjustments as needed to meet student needs. We extended this to our ELA teams mid-year. We have integrated personalized learning and our new LETRS training into all of our faculty meetings and PLCs during these unit planning sessions. The leadership team plans to continue seeking teacher input in the planning of PLC cycles. This PLC implementation of unit planning was a success. This led us to wrap the year up with rigorous work sessions to build a curriculum framework and learning progressions for ELA and Math. In addition to PLC, teacher leaders led sessions during faculty meetings focused on growth mindset, data notebooks, and classroom management. We will continue to grow teacher leaders through PLC and hope to have teachers lead even more sessions for their peers during the next school year.
As MES prepares to embark on the 2024-25 school year, which includes a modified school calendar, plans are being made to continue to grow our students in all aspects to develop World Class Skills outlined by the State Department of Education’s Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.
Angela White, Principal
