The team at Thomas E. Kerns Elementary School is fully devoted to the Graduation Plus initiative of Greenville County Schools: Cultivating Superior Graduates: Producing Career and College Ready Students. We hold immense pride in the relentless efforts put forth by our staff, students, and parents this school year. Our mission is to instill in every student the global knowledge, abilities, life, and career characteristics essential for success by offering educational opportunities suited to each individual's unique needs. Beyond our focus on academics, we also nurture and impart the importance of education, healthy living habits, physical, social, and emotional learning, along with character traits like integrity, self-motivation, resilience, work ethic, and interpersonal skills.
The mission of Thomas E. Kerns Elementary School is to foster successful, accountable, and respectful lifelong learners. We attain this goal by ensuring our school is staffed with skilled and proficient staff. Our dedication to high-quality professional learning communities, instructional coaching, and professional development amplifies our Tier 1 instruction, thus offering our learners a top-notch education. Teachers convene weekly to collaborate and examine data, enhancing outcomes for all students and reflecting on their teaching methods. Our persistent efforts in fortifying Tier 1 instruction, offering support to cater to the diverse academic, socio-emotional, and behavioral needs of all students, and strengthening our professional learning communities have led to our removal from the state school priority list. We were also recognized with four Superintendent Awards for academic improvement for the 2022 school year.
Furthermore, the school administration, behavior coach, and guidance counselor contribute to nurturing responsible and respectful learners by creating avenues for students to exhibit these character traits. Our learners are engaged with classroom guidance, daily social and emotional activities, student of the month celebrations, attendance incentives, academic and behavioral rewards, tutoring, monthly clubs (like Good News Club, Girls on the Run, Chess Club, etc.), STEAM Lab, Read Across America activities, WTEK morning news show, and more throughout the year.
The vision of Thomas E. Kerns Elementary School is to foster an environment of excellence for pupils, faculty, guardians, and the broader community. Our social worker works closely with various religious institutions and local organizations to secure essential resources like school supplies, clothing, food, and more for some of our families. This social worker also establishes relationships with community partners who are committed to guiding our students. Additionally, our students actively contribute to their community by organizing a toy drive during the festive season.
The Parent Involvement Coordinator and Title I Facilitator conduct workshops aimed at aiding parents in areas such as social emotional learning, academics, and behavior management. The School Improvement Council initiative motivates students to make a positive impact through literacy-focused endeavors. Furthermore, the school's leadership team has successfully obtained grants to provide mentorship for novice teachers and to sustain our commitment to Conscious Discipline.
At Thomas E. Kerns, we are a tight-knit community committed to crafting future leaders. Our educators, support staff, and community allies collaborate relentlessly to ensure every student's success. We are relentless dreamers, bold enough to envision the extraordinary and tireless in our efforts to manifest these dreams. Catch the Wildcat Spirit!
Shayla Abercrombie
SIC Chairperson
