Our school is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by focusing on development of strong math and reading skills in kindergarten through fifth grade. Students should enter third grade with a conceptual understanding of basic reading and math skills, ready to focus on learning additional content instead of basic skills. To that end, Kershaw County School District adopted a new English-Language Arts curriculum for 2024-25 that is more stringent than the curriculum being used prior to now. For 2025-26, the district will begin using a new, stronger math curriculum.
Midway Elementary continued the RISE reading intervention program during the 2024-25 school year, run by a certified teacher and two paraprofessionals working with small groups of students to raise their reading skills. This program is funded by federal Title One monies.
Our school's Multi-Tiered Systems of Support team (MTSS) continued its monthly meetings to monitor the needs of students performing below grade level. The team analyzed a variety of student assessment data and determined next steps for each learner as appropriate. Every student's progress was monitored weekly, and teaching strategies were refined to continually improve academic performance in reading and math.
The school continued our yearly book fairs to boost student enjoyment of reading. The annual update of our library this year brought in new nonfiction books that are of greater interest to all students, and particularly to males who do not always enjoy reading. As a result, book circulation in the Midway Elementary library was greater than the South Carolina Department of Education’s recommendation for circulation in an elementary school!
Students continued to have access to 1:1 technology devices. Devices and wireless internet allowed students to read electronically and record their book titles digitally, utilize them in learning centers, and take academic assessments.
All 5K-fifth grade teachers received nine days of professional development in Project Read: Reading Comprehension, a nationally recognized program for raising students' reading comprehension skills. The Project Read specialist also modeled use of the techniques while students were in classrooms so teachers could see it being taught to students in an authentic environment. In addition, some teachers completed their two-year study of LETRS, Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. It is very intense training based on the science of reading, including how students learn to read and how teachers can assess and address every student's needs with specific strategies. Some teachers will begin their second year of training during the 2025-26 school year, and some teachers will begin their first year of training. As a requirement of the SC Department of Education, all teachers in South Carolina will be trained in LETRS.
The school enjoyed parent interaction within the school building, especially at the fall "trunk or treat" and the student award programs each semester. The school would like to see even more parental involvement next year as we all work together to benefit our students academically, physically, socially, and emotionally.
April Leszczynski, School Improvement Council Chair
Elizabeth Stehle, Principal
