Theodore Lester Elementary is a public suburban school in Florence, South Carolina that serves a diverse population of 357 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. There are seventeen general education classes, ten Autism self-contained classes, and three resource support classrooms. Ethnicity composition is .5% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 1.4% Bi-Racial, 73% African American, 3% Hispanic, and 22% White. All students at Theodore Lester Elementary receive free lunch. The school also offers a wide range of specialized services to support learning. Such specialized services include four certified occupational therapist, two part-time certified physical therapists, four autism consultants, two speech teachers, and two nurses.
Faculty and staff are committed to helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by focusing heavily upon teaching strategies designed to improve students' critical thinking and communication skills. Students’ strengths and weaknesses are identified through STAR Reading and Math assessments and Linkit which are aligned to all state standards. These tests Inform teachers of students' reading and math intervention. Reading and Math interventionists were added to the school's instructional staff to provide Tier II and Tier III intervention support to students identified as in need of such services.
Theodore Lester Elementary is a one-to-one school, allowing each student to have their own individual electronic device. This gives many students access to online learning resources at home that might otherwise nor be available. In March 2020, when the state was required to go into quarantine, F1S schools also provided MiFi devices to Theodore Lester Elementary students living in homes without internet support. This allowed students to continue their learning during e-Learning months from mid-March 2020 to the end of the 2019-2020 school year. This included Extended School Year services for those students that qualified. Students also continued to receive daily breakfast and lunch during quarantine. Culinary staff prepared daily meals and district buses and cafeteria staff transported the meals to key locations in the community where they were met by parents and students to receive the meals.
We believe that it takes all of us—the community, parents, teachers, staff, and students—working together to help each child develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary to be life-long learners. Theodore Lester Elementary faculty and staff are grateful to F1S District Leaders, F1S School Board, parents and community members that donated their time and resources to support our students. We are especially grateful to the parents, paraprofessionals, teachers and academic coaches who worked together so diligently to ensure that our students continued to learn during e-Learning.
Suereese Anderson, SIC President
Janette Williams, School Principal
