Angel Oak Elementary School is driven by the concepts of differentiation, student engagement, and the integration of the arts in all classrooms. Our school supports all students in developing the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by focusing on the use of student-driven, data-informed instruction that cultivates creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication. Through the use of arts-integrated strategies tied to rigorous standards, students are challenged to explore and express learning in engaging and creative ways. Our school is working to improve literacy in order to meet the district goal of all children reading on grade level by implementing curriculum with fidelity and by fostering teacher collaboration. Teachers use data regularly to differentiate instruction for students based on individual needs and to challenge students to think critically through higher order questioning and innovative lesson design.
Students are provided with extensive related arts classes that promote collaboration through whole-child learning including dance, music, visual art, drama and physical education. PBIS and Second Step SEL programs are implemented to support individual and collaborative efficacy, self-direction, empathy, compassion, effective communication and the development of a global perspective. The school has developed a STEAM makerspace cart where students can explore design and engineering processes in creative and collaborative ways. Every classroom has a Promethean board and 1:1 devices to enable every student to keep pace with our ever changing world of technology.
Students are offered different after school club and program opportunities featuring topics like STEAM, drama, dance, and visual arts. Our school also supports a championship winning tennis team and baseball teams that play in collaboration with our local community league. Students work to care for a garden on campus and have learned to be good stewards of our earth through composting and recycling.
Our Angel Oak family has participated in many academic, social, and community activities this year. These include: Meet and Greets, Read-a-thon, Arts Integration Demonstration Days, Career Day, a Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration and more! Increased communication and community support has helped PTA membership to increase by over six times since 2016-17. Our SIC (School Improvement Council) has been dedicated to supporting student achievement and an increase in scores in our data is a direct, positive reflection of our efforts. This year they focused on supporting a birth-5 initiative in our community. Our teachers and staff analyze data regularly in PLC meetings and use it to inform instruction.
Angel Oak has exceptional community partners such as Kiawah Cares, Engaging Creative Minds, College of Charleston, Arts, Etc., Yo Art, Charleston Jazz and ArtsNow which assist both teachers and students with academic, programmatic, and material needs. Angel Oak Elementary was awarded a SmART Literacy Grant (over 2.1 million dollars) with ArtsNow to support Arts Integration training for teachers, artist residencies, and arts experiences. Angel Oak was also celebrated in 2018-19 as an exemplary school in the Project About School Safety (PASS) 2 year research study by USC and CCSD showing notable gains in: increasing attendance, increasing overall test scores, increasing family engagement and supporting students’ social and emotional well-being through PBIS. During 2019-20, our school was honored to be voted “Most Loved Public Elementary School” in Charleston by parents and community members on Hulafrog. We have also partnered with the Besharat Gallery and Foundation to showcase powerful gallery exhibitions within our school. During 2022-23, Angel Oak Elementary was recognized as an ArtsNow Leadership School and an ABC School for the state of South Carolina. Our school has been featured in several publications highlighting our work in arts integration and its positive impact on our school and community.
We have a more detailed list of our yearly accomplishments available for review on our school webpage. Angel Oak is systematically moving towards excellence in all areas. Our goal is to meet every learner’s needs and help each student reach their maximum potential.
Judith Condon, Principal
James Teeple, SIC Chair
