The faculty and staff at Starr Elementary are dedicated to helping all students meet and exceed their individual abilities. We strive daily to help them develop to their fullest potential in becoming college and career ready. Starr Elementary serves students in grades K4 through 5th . Our total enrollment was 491 students during the 2022-2023 school year. In addition, we host 20 Head Start Preschool students for qualifying three and four year old children.
All grade levels at Starr Elementary hold students accountable for mastering the state standards and striving for excellence as they emerge with character traits including integrity, self-direction, perseverance, strong work ethics, and interpersonal skills to help them in all facets of life. Teachers continuously drive their instruction based on the South Carolina College and Career Readiness Standards. Instruction is delivered in a variety of ways, including large group instruction, small group instruction and individual instruction in order to challenge students to think critically, problem solve, collaborate together, and communicate effectively with one another. Starr uses a Balanced Literacy approach to learning language arts and integrates reading and writing into other core subjects to increase knowledge in all subject areas. Teachers foster inquiry-based learning in the classroom by developing independent and self-motivated learners.
During the 2022-2023 school year, administration and teachers worked together to find new ways to guide instruction for our students by having vertical team meetings across grade levels. Teachers were able to see the strengths and weaknesses that students have when leaving one grade level and enter into another. Teachers were then able to use this information to guide grade level instruction that would better support our students’ needs and fill in the learning gaps where needed in the subjects of ELA and Math.
Curriculum at Starr Elementary is data driven. Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments are given three times each year to help our staff better determine students’ strengths and needs within the curriculum. Benchmark assessments are given to find each child’s reading level and writing abilities. This data driven instruction allows teachers to better meet the needs of each individual student. Student achievement data is the primary focus that drives our instruction. With the implementation of the SC Ready test and the South Carolina College and Career Readiness Standards, the Starr Elementary faculty and staff are continually striving to improve student achievement and test scores.
Starr Elementary continues to provide a STREAM program that serves as an additional related arts class for grades K5-5th. This STREAM classroom incorporates South Carolina Standards from all grade levels into each assignment. In addition to this related arts program, Starr has enhanced its STREAM program this year by serving students that scored into Gifted and Talented through a G&T STREAM class. This G&T STREAM class allows students to use higher order thinking and gives them opportunities to collaborate across grade levels to complete advanced STREAM projects. Our students’ parents and families are invited each year to attend our STREAM Family Night, which gives families an opportunity to work creatively, cooperatively and think critically to complete projects within and around the school. Starr also includes a variety of STREAM instruction that allow students to use critical thinking and problem solving skills in areas such as the Rocket Launch Project, the egg drop experiment, coding, Jet Toy, and Robotics teams. This year two of our student teams placed first and second in the District Jet Toy competition.
Students are also encouraged to participate in reading programs outside of the classroom such as the Greenville Drive All Star Reading program. We had 99% participation in this event. Our fourth and fifth grade students participated in a district reading challenge called Battle of the Books. They had to read twenty chapter books. Ten were selected for them and the other ten were chapter books of their choice. We are proud to participate in programs that encourage our students to be strong readers. Other afterschool activities include 4-H club, Girls on the Run, Vex, Robotics, and Tiger Chorus. The 4-H club received a grant to purchase a greenhouse. At our STREAM night these students sold plants they planted and grew in the greenhouse. The Girls on the Run participated in a 5K run at Furman University. Our Tiger Chorus performed at Iva’s Christmas Tree Lighting, Anderson University basketball game and Crescent High School softball game, Anderson Soiree, and Carowinds. These programs help foster the relationship between the school, home and community. We also provide opportunities for parents and the community member to visit our school through events like grandparents breakfast, muffins for mom, donuts for dad, idiom parade, live wax museum, making gingerbread houses and decorating Christmas cookies as well as out fall literacy and STREAM nights. Many parents and community members have supported our staff and students by giving of their time and energy to help Starr shine bright in all areas. Parent and community involvement is a very important piece to the heart of our school.
