Drayton Mills Elementary School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by continuing to make academic gains while also building community. Our school community is committed to fostering high-quality learning by engaging every student in a rigorous curriculum and providing meaningful opportunities to educate and nurture the whole child.
Our dedicated staff engages in ongoing professional development at both the school and district levels. Over the past few years, DMES teachers and administrators successfully completed LETRS, a highly rigorous two-year course focused on the science of reading. Our cohorts were among the first in our state to accomplish this. Additionally, DMES faculty and staff continue to receive training on our district’s four priorities, including the instructional framework, iReady, Fountas and Pinnell reading curriculum, and Responsive Classroom.
As we continue to pursue excellence and academic growth, in collaboration with our School Improvement Council and PTO, we understand that parent support and involvement are critical elements of student success. The DMES SIC has determined that we will continue our efforts to recruit more parent volunteers. Our goal is to strengthen the partnerships between home and school by creating more opportunities for meaningful engagement, improving parent communications, and utilizing relevant data and survey feedback to positively impact readiness and achievements.
In addition to increasing our number of parent volunteers, DMES continued to enjoy the community partnerships that are so essential to the well-being of our community. Among these partnerships are Converse University, Fairview Baptist Church, Furman University Diversity Leadership Initiative, Hand in Hand, ID Clifton Church, Junior League of Spartanburg, JW Woodward Funeral Home, Kids Club, Kiwanis Club of Spartanburg, Mary Black Foundation, Rotary Club of Spartanburg, Spartanburg County Sherriff’s Office, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, St. Paul United Methodist Church, United Way of the Piedmont, and Wofford College.
Among our most successful efforts this year involved learning opportunities for DMES parents/guardians. Led by our school’s parent involvement facilitator, DMES hosted three Triple P Parenting seminars, and Lunch and Learn programs all of which were well attended. Moreover, two other efforts – Doughnuts with Data and Muffins n’ Measures involved parents coming to school for breakfast and an opportunity to receive their child’s iReady data while school faculty were present to explain what they meant and how they could help their child improve. Other opportunities for parent involvement included Lunch N’ Library, PTO Family Skate Nights, our Veteran’s Day assembly, PTO Hero’s Dance, and Read and Dine/STEM Night.
We were pleased to celebrate student accomplishments in more ways than ever. We continued our partnership with the Spartanburg Kiwanis Club to host quarterly celebrations during which parents and guardians joined us to recognize Terrific Kids. Additionally, our PE coaches began monthly recognitions of PE Students of the Month, and our Orchestra teacher did the same with Orchestra Student of the Month. We were so excited to have a DMES 3rd grader tie for tenth place in the Regional Spelling Bee and have a DMES 4th grader selected for the prestigious SC State Honors Choir. Additionally, the DMES Robotics Team again competed in a FIRST LEGO Robotics competition, and DMES once again earned the designation as a National Beta Club School of Merit.
As DMES continues to live into its Vision of a “community of empowered leaders and goal achievers,” the DMES Student Council led our school in giving back to our community. They planted bulbs around the school (emerging at the time of this writing!), collected food for Miracle Hill, made holiday gifts for the Mary Black ER staff, built a Free Little Library at Converse University, visited Wofford College, held a hygiene drive for Hand in Hand, and acted as leaders in many school events and functions!
DMES students continued to excel in the arts. Over the course of the school year, every DMES student had the opportunity to perform before an audience. Moreover, they participated and placed in numerous visual arts contests – including the Piedmont Community Fair, Spartanburg celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and our DMES Art Show hosted at 1800 Drayton. Additionally, DMES music teachers volunteered to come in early during the week to lead chorus, Ukulele Club, and Rock Band - an initiative that resulted in an especially well-received presentation at our state’s Music Educator’s Conference. Additionally, a DMES PE Coach established an Archery Club that meets after school three days a week, and DMES teacher volunteers again led a Girls on the Run Club. Nearly half of our 5th-grade students participate in the Band or Orchestra program!
Lastly, for the last two years, our DMES 5th grade team worked diligently to make DMES’s only overnight field trip a reality. Our students had the opportunity to experience history through an exciting educational journey to Charleston, SC.
Our students and faculty worked to supplement Title I funds towards this adventure, and the group enjoyed a visit to a barrier island, the SC Aquarium, the International African American Museum, the USS Yorktown, downtown Charleston, and Fort Sumter.
DMES is so proud to highlight these accomplishments and excited to envision the positive impact we anticipate for our children!
Carla Cato, Principal
Shannon Brown, SIC Chair
