Our school is helping all students develop the world class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the Graduate. The vision of St. James Elementary, Supporting the Journey to Excellence, continues to predicate all that we seek to do each day. Faculty and staff worked collaboratively to provide students with an engaging, nurturing, and safe learning environment. Teachers applied high yield instructional strategies to his/her planning and executed innovative, engaging lessons. Using formative and summative assessments, teachers reflected on student learning, monitored the learning as appropriate, and made necessary adjustments accordingly. We continued to encourage our students to take advantage of district-wide technology programs designed to differentiate and to personalize instruction. As a result of these efforts, coupled with the support of parents and community, our students made extraordinary gains. We saw percentile increases of targeted growth goals in the area of reading as measured by MAP assessments and DIBELS. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of students in grades two through four celebrated success in meeting one or more targeted growth goals in all areas of MAP assessments.
In addition to academic gains, we celebrated individual successes. Three students received awards from the South Strand Optimist Club in the areas of Fellowship, Humanities, and Science. Four St. James Elementary students earned awards in this year's Horry County Schools Technology Fair. Andrew Hazelton proudly represented St. James Elementary School as an Horry County Schools Reel Kid. Kayleigh Vanlandingham, art teacher, was selected to give a presentation at the 2018 National Art Convention in Seattle, Washington. Michelle Keelin was selected as our Teacher of the Year, and Nicolette Kearney earned the distinction of Support Staff Member of the Year.
St. James Elementary recognizes the value of giving back to the community. It was with this altruistic mindset that we contributed time and other resources to multiple community organizations. Through various service learning projects, students were able to support the missions of March of Dimes, local food banks, veterans' organizations, the Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, the American Heart Association, Relay for Life, Fostering Hope, Thrive Assisted Living, Coastal Animal Rescue, the Ronald McDonald House, and Help 4 Kids.
St. James Elementary values opportunities for our students to learn and to grow outside of the classroom. It is our belief that creating opportunities to try new things and to discover new talents help to develop the whole child. We provided these opportunities through various clubs, partnerships, and school sponsored events. Our school sponsored clubs included: Junior Beta Club, Technology Club, Archery Club, Art Buddies, Mural Club, Mock Trial-Drama Club, and Dolphin Council (Student Council). Community sponsored clubs included: Girls on the Run, the St. James Elementary Golf Squad, the Good News Club, the Hip Hop Club, and Elite Soccer Academy Club. Our school sponsored events included: Family Game Night, Grandparents' Breakfast, Faith and Fellowship Breakfast, Literacy Night, Fine Arts Day, Veterans' Day Celebration, Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast, Reading Intervention Night, Family Art Night, Royal Ball, Mom and Me Paint Night, Grandparents' Art Night, Dads and Lads Paint Night, Service Vehicle Day, and Career Day. For the first time ever, St. James Elementary Junior Beta Club members participated and competed in the South Carolina Junior Beta Club Convention. Three students took home awards in the Junior Betat Club academic competitions, and our students placed first runner-up in the talent competition. Additionally, Merritt Jeter was elected reporter of the South Carolina Junior Beta Club.
Our success this year was the result of teamwork with all stakeholders. St. James Elementary is supported by our School Improvement Council, PTA, parents, volunteers, community members, and business partners. The mission of St. James Elementary, a richly diverse community of learners committed to a tradition of academic and personal excellence, is to ensure that our children are fully prepared to be productive participants in a constantly changing world through personalized, progressive learning which develops self-motivation, high expectations, life skills, and the lifelong pursuit of learning. We are proud of our success in achieving this mission and welcome each new school year with the opportunity to be the best one yet.
Felisa McDavid, Principal Shawn Seward, School Improvement Council Chairperson 2017 - 2018
