As we close out the 2023-2024 school year there are so many accomplishments and accolades to look back on and look forward to. It is with a talented and dedicated school team paired with unwavering supportive families that makes ECMCS a place our students will never forget. For some, our school will be the longest school they will attend in their lifetime. Since we get to watch them grow up in our school, we take the task of education very seriously.
There are a couple of keys to ECMCS's success, starting with strong leadership. Thank you to the Governing Board, without whom none of the other accomplishments happen. Working with a board whose primary cause is the success of the children entrusted to our care is a true pleasure. Our strong Parent-Teacher Network contributes endless hours toward ECMCS's success.
We started the year off by receiving achievement awards for Excellence in Academic Achievement, Excellence in Preparing for Success, and Excellence in School Climate as part of our school report card. The SC School Report Card is mainly based on 3rd-grade and above achievement since these students are tested with SC READY. ECMCS is more than our SC School Report Card.
This year, our students in grades 1-5 moved from taking the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment to the iReady assessment, another nationally normed formative test to measure student growth. This did not deter our students’ progress at all. Our 1st-5th graders’ median percent progress towards their annual growth was 129% in reading, with 74% of our students being at or above grade level, and these same students had 123% median percent progress towards their annual math growth with over 60% of students being at or above grade level.
Our middle schoolers continued to take the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) as their formative assessment for growth. In reading, 57% of our students made great gains in growth (keeping in mind that over 80% were still above the 80th percentile), while 83% of our students made great gains in growth in the area of math. We are incredibly proud of our middle schoolers who take high school credit courses, such as Algebra, Geometry, and Spanish I. In Algebra, 92% of our students scored a B or above on the state-administered Algebra End-of-Course Exam. All Geometry students scored a B or better on their final Geometry exam. All of our Spanish 1 students achieved a 3 or above on the STAMP (Avant Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency in a specific language- specifically, Spanish at our school). This is the equivalent of a high level of proficiency at this level.
We employ an instructional coach for both ELA and math to implement a coaching model fully. Having full-time academic coaches has given teachers support with instruction, curriculum rollout, and a second or third pair of eyes to help them be the best they can be. As one teacher said the other day, “I merely ask the question, and not only do I have the answer, but it comes with everything I need, including the materials to implement immediately with my students”. Our coaches helped teachers to unpack standards and incorporate the standards in a meaningful way with the authenticity we all expect from a highly-performing project-based approach to Montessori pedagogy. The fruits of this change will continue to be felt for years to come.
A few years ago, ECMCS set a goal to be as known for our arts as we are for our academics. We have seen an explosion of opportunities and talent in just a few years. Students at every level have more opportunities than ever before. We held concerts and theatrical performances, but some that stand out are the Madrigal Dinner, which qualified for the first time to take our Choraliers to Regionals, scoring Excellent. The newly formed Thespian Society scored Excellent as well. The arts are an area of great growth and excellence! The Night of the Arts was a huge success, with every student having a framed art piece and many students having a second area performance in either theater, choir, or poetry reading. Spoleto even invited the Choir students to participate in the International Opera Runeous Gods, which is also being submitted for the Pulitzer
We are audited annually by an outside auditor and are proud of our fiscal fortitude. As you already know, the faculty is the greatest asset and is understandably the largest portion of our budget. East Cooper Montessori Charter School remains committed to attracting and maintaining highly qualified and highly committed faculty, and due to strong current and past board leadership and Billy Koll, ECMCS’s Financial Director, we are poised to match or go above the CCSD salary increases. In the 2023-2024 school year, teachers were given a $5,000 salary increase, and ECMCS recognized the value of all staff and gave a $1,000 bonus to all non-teacher staff members. In 2024-2025, we expect a $7,500 increase for teachers and 100% of market value for non-teacher positions. In the coming year, ECMCS will re-charter for the third time. As we progress into the 2024-25 school year, our school will have a healthy reserve balance to ensure investment in our students' education.
Jody Swanigan, Principal
Abby Kazley, SIC Chair
