St. James-Gaillard Elementary is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate through our school vision: “SJG, A Committed, Collaborative, Community, Inspiring Students to Build a Brighter Future.”
We are committed. At St. James-Gaillard Elementary School all faculty and staff members are committed to students and their learning. We believe that all students can learn and meet high expectations. We strive to provide rigorous and rewarding experiences in a safe and nurturing environment which promotes the continual growth and development of the whole child. We are committed to continuous improvement. Students receive ninety (90) minutes of ELA and Math instruction each day. A daily multi-tiered thirty (30) minute intervention block is implemented daily to support students with their learning needs in Reading. Students are provided with targeted interventions at increasing levels of intensity to accelerate their rate of learning. A Reading interventionist provides select students in grades K-2 with supplemental small group reading instruction using the Fountas and Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention. The Reading Coach provides targeted Tier 3 intervention to identified third grade students. Instruction is based on their current reading level and students are assessed throughout the year to determine their growth.
We collaborate. Teachers work in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to determine what students will learn, monitor each student’s learning on a weekly basis, provide individualized or small group interventions that ensure struggling students receive additional time and support and extend and enrich learning when students have already mastered the intended objectives. Teams develop and implement a common lesson plan that incorporates selected instructional strategies. Teams then review student work and their understanding of the standards and discuss potential modifications to instructional strategies. Teachers are afforded the opportunity to participate in subject area professional development to improve their content knowledge and to provide them with research based instructional strategies to use in their classroom. Teachers ensure that students are engaged in higher order thinking questions in all content areas, scaffolds students’ learning experiences, differentiates instruction, and acknowledges our students’ positive behaviors. A variety of assessments are used to help assess individual student growth in all academic areas. The data from these assessments is carefully analyzed and used to inform instruction. Teacher leaders which include our Reading Coach provide additional support inside the classroom to increase classroom integration of professional development topics.
Character education is important in the development of our students. The Guidance Department implements character education lessons and activities throughout the school year to provide opportunities for students to learn about, discus and demonstrate positive social behaviors. The annual career fair helps to expose student to future career opportunities and plans on how to get there. Through the Jr. Beta Club and other school organizations, students are able to demonstrate their leadership skills and participate in state level competitions.
We are a community. We believe that the elementary years are vital in developing the skills, attitudes and understanding that foster a love of learning. It takes a team to educate our children. Parents are a vital part of our school environment and work diligently with the school to create a school-to-home relationship that is positive and productive. The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and the School Improvement Council (SIC) continue to be active in our school. Both organizations meet to collaborate on ideas to improve our school. We will continue to work to bridge the gap between home and school by helping parents get the information and support they need to ensure their child's academic and social success and share with the community the vision and goals of our school.
As we move forward to the next school year, our goal is to improve the academic achievement of students in all content areas and continue to provide a safe and nurturing environment where our students can become college and career ready.
Valerie Blanchard, SIC Chairperson
Keonia L. Gilliard, Principal
