At Mount Pleasant Academy (MPA), faculty and staff engage students in a variety of learning experiences aimed at fostering learning and innovation skills, enhancing information and technology skills and supporting students in the acquisition of knowledge and skills necessary for future success.
Students and staff at MPA learned to navigate the effects of a global pandemic on learning and instruction. We began the school year with over 50% of our student population learning from home. This gave us the opportunity to teach our students information and technology skills in real time, for purposes other than gaming. Covid-19 also altered how we interacted with peers. We learned to communicate more effectively using our words without the benefit of facial cues. Each time more students returned face-to-face, students and teachers greeted additional friends and rebuilt their classroom community. While Covid-19 had quite an effect on our schools, we learned to appreciate our peers, manage our time and use technology for productivity.
While we had to shift our learning experiences to allow for social distancing, our students came up with ways to support the community and leave a lasting legacy. Our student council put together a time capsule to memorialize this year for future generations. They planned items to include, wrote explanations of their importance, researched the best device to hold the items and prepared it for burial. Future MPA students will be able to look back on the pandemic of 2020. Another group of students proposed putting a little lending library on campus for families that do not have regular access to books at home. After they did their research and made their proposal, they began working on the lending library. These are just two examples of how we foster student learning beyond the classroom.
This year a group of our students with special learning needs embarked on a quest to interview men with a variety of careers including retired military, celebrity chef and nationally known musician. The students collaborated on researching the individuals, writing questions and practicing their speaking and listening skills. These opportunities fostered improved collaboration and communication, while hearing from guest presenters about perseverance and work ethic.
At Mount Pleasant Academy we work to engage students in a variety of learning activities that help all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.
Kim Jackson, Principal
Kathryn Zais, SIC Chairperson
