Nevitt Forest Elementary School is a 4K through Grade 5 elementary school with a student population of approximately 575. The current student population lacks diversity both ethnically and economically. The areas zoned for Nevitt Forest include multiple federally subsidized housing units. Nevitt Forest participates in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program. Under CEP, all children attending Nevitt receive breakfast and lunch at no cost. This is an indicator of the high level of poverty which impacts the students attending the school. Coupled with high levels of poverty, is the high transient rate of the students attending the school. Approximately 50% of the student population will stay enrolled in Nevitt for the entirety of their elementary school experience. The annual transient rate is 39%. The current academic performance of the student population is depressed; however multiple data points, including MAP assessment data and SCREADY data indicate a high level of growth.
Nevitt Forest is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. The school has many practices, programs, and processes in place to promote creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and teamwork, communication, information, media and technology, and promoting students' knowledge of how to learn. It is the mission of Nevitt Forest to provide equitable, exemplary learning experiences that are rigorous, differentiated, and high quality in order to support the whole child in a safe and positive learning community.
There are multiple components of the instructional program at Nevitt Forest that promote world-class skills. Teachers meet weekly in grade level teams to plan rigorous lessons, identify complex texts, and develop mathematical practices that require critical thinking and problem solving. Teachers in all content areas work to provide students with opportunities to self-reflect and explicitly think about their learning. The school counselor provides small group lessons in study skills and organization skills in order for students to think critically about how to learn and be successful academically and behaviorally. The school utilizes a structured literacy framework and a variety of instructional supports such as HMH Into Reading, Reading Mastery, Dreambox, RazKids, Number Talks and technology integration to ensure students have the opportunity to think deeply and answer high level thinking questions. The school employs a full time reading coach that works with teachers to provide support in planning and implementation of lessons. She works closely with all teacher implementing structured literacy into the instructional framework.
Students are provided multiple opportunities to create and explore in a variety of areas. Nevitt Forest students engage in weekly arts-based lessons that provide them with opportunities to explore the visual arts and music. In these lessons, students engage in integrated activities that allow them to create, explore and produce a variety of works. Additionally, Nevitt Forest provides a time each month where students are able to participate in a school club of their interest. Club time is built into the day so that all students are able to participate. These clubs are cross-grade level and provide students a variety of opportunities to explore varied interests as well as brainstorm problems and create solutions. Some examples of clubs students have participated in are gardening, clay, guitar, knitting, STEAM, coding, chess and Legos. Additionally, Nevitt Forest has two days during the school year called “Experience Jacket Day” where students work on a standards-based project that integrates different areas of the arts and technology. Students create presentations and share those with parents, students, and peers while also completing a self-reflection of their learning throughout the entire process.
Nevitt Forest has implemented a variety of programs that support positive behavior, collaboration, teamwork, and critical thinking/problem solving. Nevitt Forest Elementary is a PBIS school which means there is a focus on positive behavior and choice making. Additionally, Nevitt has implemented a program called PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) that explicitly teaches students self control signals, coping strategies and problem solving strategies. Nevitt Forest’s focus on rigorous lessons, social emotional learning, and differentiation of instruction directly correlates to the profile of the South Carolina graduate by promoting the life and career characteristics as well as consistently incorporating the world class skills.
