As East Cooper Montessori (ECMCS) completes its 20th year as a successful public Montessori school of choice within the Charleston County School District, we reflect on many successes and challenges ahead.
Guided by the principles of Dr. Maria Montessori, ECMCS is meeting the vision to develop world-class skills and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing an authentic, rigorous public Montessori experience for students in preK-8th grades. The school continues to be awarded for high achievement and is recognized as a model public Montessori program within our county and state.
The mission of ECMCS, in part, is to provide a rigorous Montessori education that guides children toward academic excellence and a lifelong love of learning. Rigorous curriculum expectations are met through learning experiences that capitalize on collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication.
The second part of the school’s mission is to encourage stewardship of the greater global community. Students annually participate in international learning projects, including the World Peace Game, Social Justice project-based experiences, and the Model Montessori United Nations simulation program. Thanks to our partnership with the Clemson Extension, we continued science and STEM in the garden by planting beds for every classroom.
As Montessorians, we believe that purposeful work leads to fulfillment and positive social and emotional growth. The projects and activities of the year were student-driven, rigorous, and standards-measured. Some examples include the fourth and fifth graders each having the opportunity to play the World Peace Game, solving world peace but, more importantly, how to problem solve on a global level. The eighth graders got to work with a wilderness group to build a skin-on-frame canoe from raw materials. The younger students got to learn about and write about nutritional struggles while learning to build a Blessing Box and even getting to meet the Blessing Box founder! Middle schoolers could run one of the three middle school businesses. Activities such as these not only teach mathematical and even great communication skills but also help kids develop empathy, compassion, strong self-esteem, and responsibility for the greater good.
The halls came to life with arts, music, STEM, studio arts as well as digital art. The school made significant investments into the fine arts program in recent years, making the activities of this year possible. The arts department kicked off the year with middle schoolers choosing a major area of study. The holiday season ushered in 2 nights of a Madrigal Dinner that was truly amazing and fit for a king! The fifth graders also performed Pirates Past Noon by Magic Treehouse for a packed audience. For the first time in the school’s history, every student displayed an art piece in a school-wide Night of the Arts event. A few pieces were even selected for display in other shows!
Our Montessori program continues to lift student achievement and reach new heights because ECMCS invests in practices for the attraction, growth, and maintenance of a strong, professionally engaged faculty. Our retention of educators has remained relatively high due to our educator-retention practices that put educators at the heart of decision-making along with the students.
The consistent and professional leadership of the Governing Board and the school administration remains a cornerstone of its financial and academic success. People truly are the heart of our business.
Jody Swanigan, Principal
Abby Kazley, SIC Chair
