The mission of Saxe Gotha Elementary School is to ensure all students learn, grow and excel in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment. In the 2025-26 school year, our children showed strong growth led by professional educators who are committed to our mission. By collaborating with our community partners, we worked with our entire community to support children inside and outside the classroom. From our Constellation Connection Learning Nights to our Fall Festival, everyone came together as One Team with One Dream. It really does take a village at SGES. Our teachers led our Shining Stars through rigorous academic experiences and supported them by allowing children to master the competencies of the Lexington One Graduate Profile.
The 2025–26 school year has been a period of remarkable academic momentum, driven by our implementation of the Lexington One Technical Core and rigorous South Carolina College- and Career-Readiness Standards. Through intentional, data-driven planning and professional growth, our teachers have targeted the exact needs of our learners.
Our targeted focus on Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, or LETRS, professional learning directly accelerated reading progress. By the conclusion of the 2025–26 school year, an outstanding 70.3% of students improved their placement in reading, surpassing our internal benchmarks. Furthermore, our striving learners achieved an exceptional median progress toward typical growth of 129%. In mathematics, we achieved an incredible milestone with 76% of our students improving their placement by the end of the year. Striving math students also thrived, hitting a median progress toward typical growth of 125%.
The Lexington One Graduate Profile guides us as we embed vital career and life competencies into our daily academic targets. This year, our Shining Stars have not just memorized curriculum — they have embodied the competencies required to succeed inside and outside of the classroom. Through our protected Tuesday Professional Learning Teams, teachers designed lessons that required students to work productively in groups, listen actively to diverse perspectives and speak confidently during class discussions. Students frequently shared their goals and progress during Peer Data Chats.
Our students demonstrated personal accountability daily by adhering to clear behavioral standards in our hallways, restrooms and cafeteria — such as practicing good manners, managing personal space, and respecting their environments. They also learned self-management skills to balance screen time effectively.
Students took ownership of their learning journeys using Student Data Notebooks to set personal goals, create action steps, and track their growth. They utilized technology responsibly to conduct online research and evaluated real-world concepts.
We capped off our magnificent year with our Shining Star Showcase Student-Led Conferences, empowering our students to step forward as confident leaders of their own education. At Saxe Gotha Elementary, we prove every single day that when we work as "One Team," we can achieve any "Dream!"
Joseph Casey, Principal
Katelyn Sullivan, SIC Chairperson
