Memminger Elementary, IB World School, has worked diligently to ensure that all students develop world-class skills and life and career characteristics that are part of the profile of a South Carolina graduate. We accomplish that by providing a safe, caring, and academically challenging learning environment.
Our partnership with our parents and community aims to accelerate achievement through inquiry, social and emotional development, and agency. We work hard to help students develop the attributes of the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile to become internationally minded learners.
The 2024-2025 school year began with celebrations and an opportunity to strategically implement strategies to ensure that all students would learn and grow during the school year. This year was also our year of IB Programme review and evaluation. The students and staff demonstrated and spoke to the IB Learner Profile successfully as we progressed through the evaluation process. Students and staff could discuss our IB units, the upcoming 5th-grade showcase (passion projects) work, and opportunities for all students during our weekly IB club rotations each quarter.
We have continued to build our PTO this year and were excited by the increased participation we experienced. Our Fun Run tradition raced on with significant parent involvement, and the Teacher Cadets from Early College High School volunteered all day! Our PTO also purchased Stretch and Support Games for all classrooms. These games are talent-development focused, which provides practice for students in their areas of strength and weakness. The games work on developing verbal reasoning skills, non-verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning skills. Students and staff enjoyed using these games throughout the year.
Our faculty participated in weekly data-focused PLC meetings with administration and coaches. The focus was on student engagement and rigor, closing the achievement gap, and ensuring that the needs of all Memminger students were met. We continued our work with our comprehensive (and new) ELA program. Teachers collaborated in deep dives into our standards weekly and closely monitored student progress. Our teachers have also been trained in Kagan Cooperative Learning strategies. This training is ongoing, and we onboard new staff each year. We also had a small cohort of teachers who either began or completed their LETRS training. Cara Butcher was selected as our Teacher of the Year, and Sara Vena was chosen as our Rookie Teacher of the Year.
The hard work and dedication of our parents, volunteers, and our outstanding community support enhanced the school's mission. We look forward to continuing to grow in the 2025-26 school year as we work toward our district goal of all students reading on grade level by fifth grade by the end of 2027.
Cindy Smalls, Executive Principal
Cherie Wash, Interim Principal
Natalie Ham, SIC Chair
