Crowders Creek Elementary is proud of its collective efforts teaching and growing young minds to SOAR as our student population continues to grow. Now nearing 1,100 Pre-K to 5th Graders, we worked this to bring most of our students back to face-to-face instruction (only 13 attended our Clover Virtual Academy for full-time distance learning). Our programs and instruction are committed to our overall goals for our students: Seeking smart solutions, being Onboard with learning, Acting responsibly, and Respecting others. We are committed to providing all of our students with a safe, friendly, child-centered, inclusive environment that strives to address the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical needs of everyone. We worked tirelessly with our children, families, staff, teachers, and administration to persevere, keeping mission in place—to promote college and career readiness and support healthy living across our entire school community.
Our efforts to support each student to develop world-class skills by SOARing daily are enabled by an extensive portfolio of tools, activities, and capabilities. We are dedicated to preparing our students to achieve the characteristics captured in the Profile of the South Carolina graduate despite on-going adversity, extensive and ever-changing safety protocols, the demands of contract tracing, and district-wide policies. We are exceptionally proud of the personalized and project-based learning that our students are offered every day. We work consistently to offer new and creative programming that allows our students to grow and learn with unique instructional activity that provides us with school offerings that sets us out from our peers.
Our school programming has experienced a slow but steady return with many activities returning to in-person engagement. Certified counselor-led programming (e.g., Monthly Character Trait Highlights) expanded with the Second Step curriculum teaching about good character, citizenship, mindset, and goal setting. Teachers and counselors collaborate to align Second Step lessons during SOAR time, guidance lessons, and by sharing the SOAR pledge daily. The school library provides read-alouds to all grade levels and our media specialist collaborates with the PTO to host book fairs twice a year. Healthcare-related clinics (e.g., dental) returned to campus and the four-day “Kicking with Confidence” swimming and water safety unit at the Clover School District Aquatics Center was offered to all of our 4th graders.
Our commitment to technology integration remains steadfast because the world demands us to be agile and accessible. Therefore, we are proud that our School District provides every student, regardless of grade level, with an Apple iPad or MacBook and hot spots for any family without access to the internet at home. eLearning implementation has played an instrumental part in keeping students and families connected during unexpected and unforeseen school closures. Parents have engaged with our teachers via virtual back-to-school nights as well as on an as needed basis. Like last year, multiple modes of communication have been key to our successes and vital for us to actively engage our students, families, stakeholders, and others. Utilizing an array of applications and e-mail and e-newsletters, our school community is committed to extensive communication, transparency, and accessibility. The use of specific applications has become more targeted. For instance, Seesaw for PreK through 1st Grade and Canvas for 2nd through 5th Grades. Others include: Class Dojo, the CSD Parent Portal, Blackboard, Peachjar, Remind, the CSD mobile app, CCE website, and social media sites (e.g., Facebook and Instagram).
This extensive network of communication has extended to outreach among our community partners, including, but not limited to local churches, small and large businesses, civic groups, community members, and volunteers who have traditionally provided support through donations and mentorship. We had an incredible response to the Annual Giving Tree (a holiday assistance program organized by the Clover Jaycees) by our families and local churches along with an outpouring of support to provide non-perishable food items to our Backpack Program and the local Clover Area Assistance program. Existing connections with groups like the Catawba and Thrive Counselors are pertinent to our efforts in supporting our children and families in their time of need for a host of different services, such as mental healthcare needs or food sharing.
Activities and links between our middle and high school partners are slowly returning much to our excitement. Our rising 6th Graders were invited to visit Oakridge Middle School to aid in their transition out of CCE. A 5th Grade Celebration Dance is planned for the end-of-year activity to celebrate their departure along with the annual Grad Walk. The Annual Boosterthon returned in-person and was our biggest fundraising success to date. Our teachers hosted holiday classroom celebrations virtually and classroom field trips have occurred both virtually and in-person. The Morning News Show is still one of our school-wide favorites and we are proud of its continuation. The Bible Release program returned this Spring, along with the Districtwide Spelling Bee and Girls on the Run has held two successful, consecutive seasons for 3rd through 5th Grade girls. Teacher Cadets returned for both the fall and spring semester, and Boys Lead was introduced by our school counselors. We hosted a virtual Veterans Day program and plans are underway for our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast. It is because of the dedication and talents of our entire school community—our teachers, administration, staff, nurses, parents, and very active Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO)—that we have been able to thrive and execute creative and meaningful programs.
Our efforts to engage our teachers and administrators in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are consistent and on-going so that we can tailor student learning with the vast array of data we receive. Instructional assistants have been pivotal in complementing teacher efforts and activities. Our district and State afford our teachers and staff with multiple opportunities throughout the year for us to remain abreast of educational trends, best practices, student engagement strategies, and hybrid learning models. We continue to refine our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) procedures and protocols to ensure that instruction is customized to each individual student. Accountability for teaching and learning is measured through district, state, and federal assessments. All results are published annually by the SC Department of Education. Testing for all students continued this year, including iReady (tri-annual testing) for all of our students, grades K through 5; Pre-K students are assessed with a Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS) biannually in alignment with SC Early Learning Standards; and our 3rd through 5th Graders participated in SC READY assessments while our 4th Graders were also assessed through the SC PASS. Our student data generated from these and other sources continue to inform our instructional decisions and foster an environment that promotes student learning and growth.
It was because of an incredible cadre of individuals who comprise our school community—our school family—including our custodial team, our full-time school safety officers, cafeteria and office staff, our incredible nurses, dedicated administration, and amazing teachers and instructional assistants, that we recognize our tremendous successes as they have truly gone above and beyond to keep our school engaged and energized in promoting the success of Each Child—Each Day.
