Gray Court-Owings School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by committing ourselves to the guidelines of the document approved by the SC Superintendent’s Roundtable and the SC Chamber of Commerce.
Student Achievement: During professional learning communities, administrators, instructional coaches, and teachers continuously analyzed data to identify areas for improvement and to design strategies to increase the percentage of students meeting academic targets in the core academic areas. The School Improvement Council reviewed steps taken to improve Tier I instruction, such as intensive coaching, uninterrupted instructional time, instructional expectations, data analysis, and data-driven instruction to include personalized learning opportunities for students. In addition, other methods of academic recovery such as after school small group tutoring, targeted intervention in grades 5K-6th, and other classroom small group instruction in all grade levels were implemented. Transform SC: Tomorrow won’t wait for our students is the conceptual framework that includes World Class Knowledge, World Class Skills, and Life and Career Characteristics.
To reinforce these life and career skills, our school offered fine arts, athletics, and academic achievement programs such as National Junior Honor Society, Jr. Beta Club, AVID, Student Council, Robotics, Academic Challenge Team, and various opportunities provided by our Career Development Facilitator. A variety of interventions were offered in both the elementary and middle school levels to assist with student achievement. At the elementary level, to help meet the mandates of Read to Succeed, reading skills were not only taught in the classroom, but also screening was completed to identify those who needed additional assistance in our intervention program. This Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) process was also used to identify students who needed math assistance. At the middle level, we offered different achievement programs and interventions, which included reading and math intervention, Pre-Algebra, Algebra I Honors, Geometry Honors, and English I Honors. Elementary and middle school levels were served through our after school program funded by 21st Century and EEDA grants. Additional after school academic tutoring was offered to students in all K-8 grade levels.
The development of these skills began as early as the primary grades and were visible through the implementation of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID). This system aligned with Individual Graduation Plans and the efforts of our Career Development Facilitator. The interpersonal skills (soft skills) that students acquired contributed positively to our school climate.
Technology: During the 2021-2022 school year, each student in grades K4-8 was assigned a Chromebook to use for educational purposes. In addition, desktops were used in elementary and middle school labs. Some of the items our technology funds afforded us were 19 new Promethean boards to replace older boards or as additional boards for areas of instructional need. In addition to the Promethean boards, technology funds also were used to purchase 8 more document cameras for use during classroom instruction. We also had a morning news show, WGCO News, where students communicated daily information to the school-wide population in a news setting. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, the school website, and the district’s system to send messages via telephone and email were utilized to increase communication to our stakeholders.
Kim Penland, Principal
Amberlyn Reynolds, SIC Chair