Delmae Heights Elementary School is located within the city limits of Florence, South Carolina.  Our school is located in a community that has a diverse population (both economically and racially) small businesses, residential homes, a church, and apartment complexes.  While our school is composed of students in our school zone, we also house a Spanish Immersion program that brings in students from around the district.  According to Powerschool data, our study body of 874 consists of students of Asian (63), African American (405), Hispanic or Latino (21), American Indian or Alaskan Native (3), Native Hawaiian or other Pacific (5), White (343), and Bi-racial (34) ethnicities.  We have 430 male students and 444 females.  A total of 11 different languages are spoken at home by our ESOL students.

The mission of Delmae Heights Elementary is to Educate, Prepare and Inspire students to become productive and contributing members of society.  Our school’s mission ensures that our students will benefit from a rigorous and well developed standard driven curriculum that will prepare them for not only the next level, but for life.    

Our vision for our school is to provide an environment where we teach the head, the heart and the hand.  

Our goal is for our students to develop self-discipline and self-confidence so that they learn to think, explore, create and ultimately experience academic success.  

"Student Success Through Innovation" is our motto as we work to help all students develop the world class knowledge, skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the Graduate.   We will utilize Title One funds to work to accomplish this by providing the following:

• Highly qualified teachers and staff

• Instruction focused on standards and driven by data

• Differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all students

• Rigorous and research-based  student centered lessons and activities

• Increased opportunities for project-based and problem solving learning

• Opportunities to incorporate technology into daily instruction

• Professional Development focused on rigor and data

• School Home and Community Partnerships that enhance student achievement

• Instructional programs that extend beyond basic basal instruction

• Opportunities for academic assistance and extra-curricular activities that extend beyond the school day

• Opportunities to participate in both STEM and STEAM focused learning opportunities

Our staff has a commitment to achievement and academic excellence for all students through a process of on-going and continuous improvement that involves collaboration with all stakeholders.  Our beliefs are indicative of our commitment to high expectations for all students and of a committed community of learners and stakeholders working together for success.

We believe:

• All stakeholders are responsible for student success

• Instruction must be rigorous, data and standards-driven, and implemented with research based curriculum and programs

• Student success in meeting high standards requires input and support from the home and community

• Provisions for the academic success of all students should be provided in a caring and safe environment

We strive for all of our students to excel in academics, social skills and extracurricular activities. 

Teacher Effectiveness is key to the academic success of our students.  Our teachers have weekly grade level meetings as well as meetings with grade level administrators to discuss student progress.  In addition, our school wide vertical teams (STEAM, Math, Science, Social Studies, Reading, Accelerated Reader, Writing, Technology and Data) meet twice a month.  Through these meetings, analysis of student data and collaborations, we are able to identify areas needing improvement as well as students needing either remediation or enrichment. Flexible grouping and differentiating instruction in the classroom, use of programs such as Lexia, Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math, Dreambox, Reflex Math, Error Analysis and Note-booking are some of the tools used to address the academic needs of all of our students, regardless of their performance levels.  

Professional Development

On-going professional development in the areas of Literacy, Math and STEAM education are key to continuous growth for both staff and students.  The school has implemented a Think Tank Thursday weekly in which teacher groups study data, information on curriculum, and updates received from the district and/or state.

Our school has a variety of opportunities for parent and community involvement.  Some of these include All Pro Dads, Community and Faith-Based Volunteer initiatives, Partnerships with Francis Marion University, Florence Darlington Technical College and Coker College.  We sponsor Title One Parent Academies and APT Family Nights. 

We strive each day to address the needs of ALL Delmae learners! We have a growth mindset at Delmae.   The goal is that ALL students will learn and grow with the instructional and materials that are necessary to do this.  Goals set by classroom teachers for evaluation (Student Learning Objectives) are designed to help address this.  In addition, the professional goal of the building level principal targets this challenge.  Our SIT Team provides opportunities for early intervention with students who are struggling – especially in the early grades (K-1).  Parent academies provide parents with resources and suggestions for assisting at home, the After School Daycare provides tutors, mentors and volunteers are assigned to work with many of these students and teachers are addressing the individual needs of these students through data driven instructional decisions.  We are one of less than 100 AdvancED STEM certified schools in the nation, and the first school in our district to offer a Spanish Language Immersion Program. 

Delmae Heights Elementary School has many things to be proud of. Being the recipient of several Palmetto Gold and /or Silver Awards for student achievement is something we are proud of.  Being the recipient of the School Award from NNPS (National Network of partnership Schools) is something we are proud of.  Being recognized as an Emerging School of Character is something we are proud of.  Having four National Board Certified staff members is something we are proud of.  Having four of our teachers of the year become Honor Roll (Top Five) teachers for the District is something we are proud of. Having the 2019-2020 F1S Vice Principal of the Year and SCDE Honor Roll Vice Principal of the year, as one of our school leaders, is something we are proud of.  Receiving several regional and state awards for our Lego Robotics Team over the past eight years is something we are proud of.  Being the recipient of two major School Foundation Grants is something we are proud of.  Most recently, four of our students, in grades 1, 2, 3 and  4 were named the state level winners for the Zaner- Bloser National Handwriting Contest. We are however, most proud of the family atmosphere and commitment to the success of all of our children that is exhibited by our school community on a daily basis. Through the use of data to drive instruction, research based instructional strategies and programs, extra-curricular activities, parent and community involvement we continue to educate, inspire and prepare our students to become life-long learners and productive members of society.

"Student Success Through Innovation" is still our motto as we work to help all students develop the world class knowledge and skills of the Profile of the Graduate with a school-wide emphasis on critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity.