Buford Elementary School is helping all students develop the world class skills and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by promoting daily, prescriptive instruction to meet each learner where they are ready to learn. A focus on our students' social emotional wellbeing took center stage during this school year. Virtual conferences provide the opportunity for teachers to share and communicate with families more than ever. Our school's mission is Everybody Counts, Every Moment Matters. The challenges of this school year help us better appreciate the importance of intentionality in our words and actions. We choose to view each challenge as an opportunity to tweak our practice in order to make our systems better for students, teachers, and parents. Students receive grade-level standards instruction as well as the opportunity to work at their independent readiness level during literacy instruction. Students in third, fourth, and fifth grades receive an extra block of math to work at their readiness level in math. Through technology and hands-on manipulatives, students explore mathematics from the concrete, to the pictorial, to the abstract. By providing inquiry-based projects based instruction, our students are discovering the answers to their own questions about science and social studies’ curriculum in addition to learning grade level standards. STEAM activities provided students the opportunity to learn science standards in a lab environment while incorporating science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, and math. Our activity teachers and classroom teachers synergized in order to support our students' understanding of key concepts and ideas across curriculums. Virtual field trips replaced in person field trips. Our Leader in Me way of life grows stronger each school year. Our entire BES school family continues to learn and live Steven Covey’s 7 + 1 Habits. By focusing on Beginning with the End in Mind, we were committed to making this school year the best, both academically and personally; and by carrying our own weather, BES remained a positive environment to work and learn. By Putting First Things First, we found that taking care of Big Rocks in our lives provide us more time to Sharpen the Saw. Synergy radiated throughout our school campus and we continued to accomplish more than should have been possible by sharing the load and keeping ourselves accountable. Our Student Lighthouse Team and iLEAD team met frequently to provide continuous, positive interactions and relationships with our school counselors. In 2021, our students exceeded the district and state average for the South Carolina College and Career Ready Assessment (SC READY) in ELA, with 50 percent “Met or Exceeding” and in mathematics, with 63 percent scoring “Met or Exceeding.” Buford Elementary School is a school family who is committed to a rigorous academic learning environment where each member is valued and their leadership skills are nurtured. We are a community of self-motivated, confident leaders who empower our stakeholders to the highest level of accountability. Next year we will continue developing our students in the image of the Profile of the South Carolina graduate as our students and staff continue to make everyone count and every moment matter!
