Stono Park Elementary is helping all students develop the world-class skills and life & career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by focusing on developing critical thinking and collaborative skills, among other supporting goals. Teachers and staff regularly check students' social and emotional health and families' well-being. In addition, we implemented classroom calming spaces that center around providing students a space to learn to manage their emotions and return to their instruction ready to excel!
At Stono Park, we focus on and are committed to integrating creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem-solving, collaboration, and teamwork, communicating information and technology, building strong work habits, and a love for learning into our core program. We will continue to strive to implement the South Carolina State Standards with fidelity while ensuring that the characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate are fully embedded in the school culture.
We provide Second Step, a school-wide Tier 1 Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Curriculum. Using this nationally recognized curriculum, all classrooms utilize intentional and meaningful lessons to engage students in development. The overall goal of the SEL program is to support students in self-regulation and teach skills for learning, including empathy, managing emotions, and problem-solving skills to create a more successful learner. Children need a solid foundation of self-regulation skills to help them stay focused on their learning, get along with others, and work independently and cooperatively in the classroom. The SEL program assists students in knowing and understanding how to learn and communicate with one another. Our team understands and values the relationships that fuel the soul of learning.
We emphasize collaboration with the implementation of cooperative learning for students and adults, workshop models in Math and Reading, student-directed activities, and wellness initiatives for the entire family. The instructional improvement resides in a team where teachers and teacher leaders collaborate and work in concert. We have continued implementing EL, a curriculum that provides rigorous grade-level instruction in mastering the state standards. Teachers work together on professional development hours to understand how to teach the curriculum and allow students access to grade-level material. As a result, we have seen increased student engagement and growth toward mastery of the standards on our assessments.
Teachers collaborate intentionally by participating in professional learning meetings, grade-level meetings, faculty meetings, and professional development sessions. Teachers regularly observe their peers and gain new strategies and insights to collaborate more thoughtfully to improve practice. These collaborative opportunities allow teachers to learn and grow with each other. As a result, teachers can create experiences that students will utilize in school and beyond. We continued to use technology to our advantage. We share work samples by projecting them on the screen or downloading electronic copies. Collaborative time allows us to continue to work as a team to support one another by reflecting on instruction.
At Stono Park, students are taught to think critically and embrace problem-solving. The goal is to promote independent and confident scholars. Teachers utilize strategies such as think-pair-share, stop and jot, and Document Based Questioning to allow children to demonstrate their critical thinking abilities. Teachers serve as facilitators in the classroom, and students can confidently take risks, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and take ownership of their learning.
At Stono Park Elementary, our responsibility is to develop students prepared to compete in a global society. We will continue to equip our students with skills, behaviors, and dispositions to prepare them for college and career readiness.
Kimberly Richards, Principal
Arletta Sumter, SIC
