Tega Cay Elementary School is helping all students develop the World Class skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing a safe, authentic, and academically challenging learning environment.
During the 2020-2021 school year, students, faculty, and parents of Tega Cay Elementary were committed to carrying out our school’s mission to promote teamwork, develop character, challenge excellence, and maintain a student-driven focus. Through the work and data analysis of our Professional Learning Communities and Multi-Tiered System of Support, we provided our students with standards-based content and rigor, data-driven instructional practices, and differentiated instruction in order to reach their full potential while emphasizing academics and social/emotional learning. Likewise, our faculty and staff members were provided professional learning opportunities within the framework of our district and school’s mission and strategic plan. We focused on refining instructional best practices, developing social and emotional learning skills, and enhancing technology usage and tools, to name a few.
In order to determine areas of academic growth and strengths as well as progress monitor, we administered all required state assessments along with formative assessments such as STAR and Fountas & Pinnell Reading Benchmark Assessments, which work in conjunction with anecdotal records and in-class testing to ensure students are provided instruction based on their individual needs and state standards. Our continued success is not an accident. It is the diligent work of our Titan Teachers and Staff who truly embrace the Solution Tree’s Professional Learning Communities mindset that “all students are our students” and that “all students can succeed.” We share our success with the community with whom we serve and have been very supportive in embracing the mindset of “we’re all in this together.”
With regard to career readiness, many of our classrooms function as mini-economies where students have leadership or functional responsibilities and earn rewards that may be redeemed for desired or needed goods or opportunities. To expose our students to various occupations that exist in our local community, our school counselors gave parents and community members a chance to share their careers with our students virtually. This also fostered an understanding of how what they learn in school is connected to their future careers.
This year, our school continued our community focus and outreach. We hosted a Special Olympics here at our school for nearly twenty-five TCES Olympians that competed in three events! We collected over 40 pounds of plastic lids and bottle caps to help support building benches for Miracle Park, an all inclusive playground in York County, Rock Hill, SC. We partnered with the Tega Cay Police Department for the Polar Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics of South Carolina. TCES participants raised over $4,000 which placed us in fourth place as a team. Our school worked in conjunction with the Optimist International SC District, Camp Cherokee, and Anne Springs Greenway to award students with recognitions and scholarships to attend summer camps. Alongside the Tega Cay Healthy Kids, Tega Cay Police Department, and the City of Tega Cay, our community highlighted the importance and rules of Biker Safety. Because of our school’s unique location to many of our communities, we are a neighborhood school. We were fortunate to partner with Tega Cay Healthy Kids to promote and participate in monthly Walk/Bike to School Days.
Service learning opportunities were provided to our students and staff including participation in Random Acts of Kindness Week. We collected donations for nonprofit organizations in our community including York County Humane Society, Fort Mill Care Center, and Habitat for Humanity.
This year, we also focused on mental and physical health as well as social emotional learning through a variety of activities and events. TCES was designated as a No Place for Hate School for the third consecutive year through the Anti-Defamation League. We worked to rally the entire school around the goal of creating a welcoming community committed to stopping all forms of bias and bullying. We worked to infuse our core values of integrity, relationships, open-mindedness, compassion, and commitment through guidance lessons and behavior management. In addition to professional development provided to staff on decreasing anxiety in students, the school counselors hosted Mindful Mondays, participated in Let’s Get Healthy Week, and recognized International Day of Tolerance. Mindful Mondays were provided to guide students and staff through a mindful exercise aimed at starting the week off in a positive way. "Let's Get Healthy Week!" was a week devoted to reviewing healthy habits and choices that will help us be successful through spirit days, daily challenges and even prizes at the end of the week! By recognizing International Day of Tolerance we encouraged students to think about how others from different cultures, religions, and families may be different and how these differences should be respected. And, we created a Diversity Book Center-Bitmoji Classroom for teachers to use as read alouds based on diversity and acceptance.
At Tega Cay Elementary we believe our staff, students, parents, and community must share the responsibility of educating our future citizens and leaders. We are blessed with strong and generous support from the entire Titan family … and for this partnership, we are extremely grateful.
Brigitte Wagner, Principal
