At Deerfield Elementary, we're committed to helping our students develop the World Class Skills of the South Carolina Graduate by building a strong systemwide environment where "Success Every Day for Every Child Through Leadership and Learning" is the foundation of everything we do. By immersing our students in the nine competencies of the Lexington One Graduate Profile, we are embedding life skills to help our students become knowledgeable, creative thinkers and problem solvers, independent learners, communicators, collaborators, future-ready literate, personally and socially responsible, kind and resilient.
We deepen our commitment to a welcoming community where every student, family and staff member feels a sense of belonging. Through daily morning meetings and weekly hallway huddles, our TRACKS Check-Ins (Take Responsibility, Respect, Appreciate, Collaborate, Knowledge and Safety) help students embrace personal responsibility in their learning and peer support. Daily student-written "shout-outs" are displayed in hallways. Each week, teachers recognize students who demonstrate the school-wide competency focus. These students are celebrated on digital screens and in newsletters, and they receive a book vending machine coin. These routines foster strong relationships and promote an inclusive, positive culture.
We are deeply committed to empowering our teachers, providing them with the resources and support they need to help students take academic risks and achieve ambitious goals. Our full-time literacy and math coaches and intervention team create a robust network of support, meeting weekly with teachers to provide expert guidance on curriculum alignment, assessments and lesson pacing. In addition, our instructional leadership team collaborates with teachers bi-weekly to analyze student data and evaluate instructional effectiveness. Through these targeted data meetings — held every four weeks for individuals and every six weeks for teams — we ensure our teachers receive the direct, ongoing support necessary to continuously refine their practice and drive student academic success.
Connecting with families is central to our success. We offered numerous opportunities for involvement, from informative Parent University workshops to our beloved Tiny Trailblazers program for our youngest learners. Our Tiny Trailblazers program is a 14-week experience facilitated by family liaison Dawn York for children who are not yet enrolled in a Lexington One preschool. . Our community spirit was on full display at events like Math Night, our community-involved STEM Night, the Student Talent Show, our Boosterthon Fun Run and our first-ever Annual Deerfield 5K. We also celebrated student learning through special grade-level events, including the four year old and five year old kindergarten Literacy Luau, First Grade Reading Restaurant, Second Grade Economics Fair, and Third Grade Animal Dioramas, as well as the heartwarming Lunch with Someone GRAND in the fall. These experiences fostered meaningful connections and highlighted the strong partnership between our school and families.
Our dedicated PTO leads impactful fundraising efforts that enrich our campus and community, such as installing a community disc golf course and enhancing our playground with gaga ball pits and shade structures. They also play a vital role in supporting our students by funding transportation for field trips, providing a school shirt for every child and sponsoring our Annual Family Field Day. Furthermore, they consistently show appreciation for our staff by providing treats throughout the year.
Our second through fifth grade students have the opportunity to participate in Run Hard during both the fall and spring semesters. Led by several dedicated staff members, this program prepares students to run a 5K while emphasizing character development, leadership, teamwork and perseverance. Through this experience, students set personal goals and learn to encourage one another as they work together to achieve these milestones. The program also involves the community, as each student has an adult Buddy Runner who completes the race with them.
To maximize learning time, we developed a comprehensive master schedule that incorporates schoolwide WIN (What I Need) Time for every grade level. This protected time ensures students receive targeted enrichment and intervention without missing new classroom instruction. Through close collaboration between our intervention team, special education teachers and homeroom teachers, we ensure each student's academic plan remains cohesive, impactful and tailored to their needs. We also streamlined service providers for student plans to help limit transition times.
As a Title I school, we proudly served nearly 900 students this year. We reinforced our commitment to student success by providing an additional interventionist to provide additional math support. We also provided school supplies for every student, utilizing feedback collected directly from our parents, and supported classrooms with new math manipulatives to align with our new curriculum and standards. To further boost summer reading, we hosted a Title I-funded book fair where each student selected three books for their home library. This event brings joy and excitement to students, and we hope to continue it in the future. Our Title I-funded family liaison remains an invaluable resource in connecting families with support.
To ensure continuous academic growth, we collaborated with our instructional staff to identify priority standards in reading, writing and math. This data analysis gave our professional development an intentional, data-driven focus that guided our strategic student grouping, intervention practices, consistent progress monitoring and refined IEP goals. As a result of this focused work, we are proud to maintain a "Good" rating on our school Report Card. This achievement reflects our unwavering commitment to fostering student academic growth across all areas.
Our school proudly maintains its status as a Dual Immersion school, offering students unique opportunities to become bilingual. We are excited to support our kindergarten through rising third-grade students as they participate in our Spanish immersion program, while our fourth and fifth-grade students continue their journey in German immersion. These students consistently excel, mastering mathematics and science in their immersion language and exploring literacy and social studies in English, all of which prepares them exceptionally well for future bilingual studies.
At Deerfield Elementary, our vision and heart is set on making sure every child succeeds and feels truly at home here. We are proud to partner alongside our families to build an inclusive community — a place where everyone belongs, and where every student has the support they need to shine today and in the years to come beyond being at Deerfield. Once a Trailblazer, always a Trailblazer!
Stephanie Taylor, Principal
Brock Gilliam, SIC Chair
