At Lake Murray Elementary School, we provide all students with opportunities to develop the World-Class Skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by creating an innovative learning environment that focuses on leadership and self-directed learners. The campus exemplifies student learning and growth by emphasizing collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking. Our vision is to help develop self-directed, global citizens who lead and learn with excellence. This year’s theme, “Rowing and Growing Together,” looked at the skillset rowing teams use as a model for our own staff. We discussed how the terms “prepared,” “synchronized,” “unified,” “engaged,” “common goal,” “focused” and “dedicated” not only define the sport of rowing, but also education. These key traits were the foundation for our campus’s success. We had to be prepared for instruction to be delivered in a variety of models, be synchronized as grade-level teams, be unified as a school, have students be engaged in the learning process regardless of setting, be focused on the common goal of making this year one of our best and be dedicated to each student’s needs. It was a life-changing process that resulted in growth in ways we never imagined.
As we all know, children need to feel safe, loved and heard for them to reach their potential as a learner. Therefore, one of our main goals this year was to ensure the social-emotional needs of the students, staff and community were honored. At the school level, we held “morning meetings” across the entire campus to begin each day. This not only aided the classrooms in building relationships with their classmates and teacher, it also permitted students a safe space to express how they were feeling. The school counselors were instrumental, as well, in supporting our students’ individual needs. Furthermore, they guided families who needed assistance to resources available both in and out of school. It truly was a team effort!
In regards to our school-based literacy plan, the literacy coach worked with each grade-level team to examine the data collected on each child. They used this information to create individual growth targets, as well as monitor their progress on our new feedback-driven reporting system. This shift in reporting led grade-level teams to calibrate student work to identify the components of a child attaining “met” on a standard. With face-to-face school ending in March of last year, we felt strongly about the loss of phonics instruction for primary students, especially our rising third graders. Therefore, our third grade team began the year by teaching the phonics units missed at the end of last year. We found this to be extremely beneficial for our third graders in both their reading and writing. For our Reading Recovery and Response to Intervention teams, communication between these programs and the regular classroom teacher was again at the forefront. Data meetings and overall student progress were reviewed extensively to ensure the child was mastering the skills and strategies taught in the RtI small-group setting, but they were being carried over to the classroom setting as well.
Another focus for teachers and students was in the area of technology. The 2020-21 school year was the first time we were 1:1 for devices in kindergarten through fifth grade. This was a learning curve for our students, but also for our teachers and parents. Overnight, teachers had to master the art of educating and, more importantly, engaging students in their learning through the virtual setting. From the hybrid model to e-learning days, to face-to-face instruction, to students in quarantine, technology became a key factor in student learning. To accomplish this, we relied on teacher leaders, coaches and our librarian to provide professional development and training on areas such as Google Classroom, Hāpara, online instructional resources and Zoom.
We could not have mastered all that we did without the dedication of our teachers. The amount of care every person on our campus has for the children we serve was demonstrated by the teachers who not only supported the students in their classes, but worked countless hours, after teaching all day, to support students in quarantine. They instructed daily in both models, which is extraordinary in itself, because of their passion for children and their belief of “all meaning all.” There will never be enough words to express how honored we have been to walk this journey alongside them.
It would be remiss to not take this opportunity to thank our amazing cafeteria staff, custodial staff and school nurses. The cafeteria staff spent countless hours preparing breakfast and lunch for our students, as well as preparing meals for parents to pick up whether it was during the hybrid model, e-learning days or virtual setting. They ensured every child had the nutrition needed to help their bodies grow and their minds able to focus on their school assignments. Without the dedication of our custodial staff in following extensive procedures and protocols, when it came to cleanliness, we would not have been able to keep our school open. We are grateful for their commitment to keeping our building safe. Last, but not least, a huge amount of gratitude goes to our school nurses. They were on the front line ensuring the welfare of all students, as well as making phone calls to parents regarding health and safety guidelines for students. This was in addition to the other daily expectations they have regarding students’ wellness.
Despite all the challenges our community faced, we ensured our students received the educational and emotional support they needed to be successful. We would not have thrived without the dedication of our parents and their willingness to not only support the school, but also become facilitators of their child’s academics in the virtual setting. The LMES theme could not have been more appropriate as we truly were “Rowing and Growing Together!”
Jennifer Stanley, Principal
Bill Davis, SIC Chair
