Cyril B. Busbee Elementary School, a preK-5th grade Title I school, is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing a safe, caring, and academically challenging teaching and learning environment through the implementation of our school’s Mission.

• Our mission is to be a community of leaders dedicated to recognizing the worth and potential in each student as we prepare them to be future ready leaders and life-long learners.

During the 2020-2021 school year, our school worked with intentionality to specifically focus on the following characteristics of the Profile: World Class Knowledge – rigorous standards in language arts and math for career and college readiness; World Class Skills – critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and teamwork, communication, information, technology, knowing how to learn; and Life and Career Characteristics – integrity, self-direction, global perspective, perseverance, work ethic, and interpersonal skills.

To support our students in developing World Class Knowledge through rigorous standards in language arts and math for career and college readiness, teachers participated in professional learning community meetings. These meetings served to build instructional capacity and expand data analysis for student, grade, school, district and state data. Teachers used data to both set goals and develop learning plans for students. To ensure that students were on track for continuous improvement, teachers progress monitored and further analyzed data in order to inform their instruction. Students were provided opportunities for World Class Skills through creativity and innovation during related arts and science instruction.  Rigorous instruction and opportunities for working with others provided our students with real-world learning opportunities as they learned skills and characteristics such as problem-solving, critical thinking and teamwork.

Due to the unprecedented world-wide pandemic many of our students participated in virtual learning platforms. Though our students had previously used technology in their classrooms and in computer labs,  the virtual learning platform was new to our students. To their credit, and supplemented by paper learning packets during hybrid schedules and remote learning days, many acclimated to this learning platform to the greatest extent possible.  With the support of our teachers and in close partnership with our parents, student learning continued, albeit with a broader global perspective, through the end of the 2020-2021 school year.   

Busbee Elementary is proud of the opportunities that we offer to our students to support growth in Life and Career Characteristics such as integrity, self-direction, global perspective, perseverance, work ethic, and interpersonal skills. We have worked to infuse positive habits and character traits into each day. Students are recognized for demonstrating these positive habits through classroom recognition and for others in a monthly Bulldog Breakfast. Students often serve in leadership positions within classrooms or throughout the school such as school ambassadors during events, Superintendent’s Student Advisory Committee, and Clubs. Students are also chosen to participate in activities based on support needed – not just as a reward.  Groups such as Paw Partners, Police Pals and Super Readers are kept small in order to offer support for students to grow their interpersonal skills along with their academic skills.  Service Learning Projects have also been successful for our school. Our school community comes together in big ways to partner with our students and model service to others.  This effort has resulted in our school being awarded first place in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 has having collected the most food among county schools during the “It’s Spooky to Be Hungry!” Golden Harvest Food Drive. This effort helps to grow our students’ perspective beyond the walls of the school.

Many programs and activities at Busbee Elementary support students academically, behaviorally, socially, emotionally, and physically. These programs and activities include, but are not limited to; Read 180/System 44, Edmentum, acceleration and remediation opportunities, Gifted and Talented, acGateway, computer labs, technology integration, school wide family night events, Clubs, Spirit Week, Awards Day Programs, Honor Chorus, Bulldog Breakfast, Field Day, Field Trips/Experiences, Unified Champions School, Fitness Bowl, Looney Tunes (Security Federal Savings Program), Parent Teacher Organization, School Improvement Council, Teacher Cadets, Service Learning activities and the Wagener Town Tree Lighting

We also believe that it is vital that we build positive relationships with our community, businesses, and churches. Programs and activities such as our Veterans' Day Breakfast, the Wagener Tree Lighting, the PTO family involvement activities, and the “It’s Spooky to Be Hungry, Golden Harvest Food Drive,” help us to build these relationships.

We truly appreciate the support that we receive from our community and district as we work to ensure that our students develop the World Class Knowledge, World Class Skills, and Life and Career Characteristics that they will need to become South Carolina high school graduates, life-long learners, and life-long Bulldog Leaders!

Ms. Jennifer Starnes, Chair of the School Improvement Council

Sonya Colvin, Principal