Sanders-Clyde Creative Arts Elementary School is a neighborhood Title I (94.3% poverty rate) school serving over 503 Headstart, pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students and their families located in downtown Charleston. Upon entering our beautiful building, one is immediately impressed with the architecture, but more importantly, the safe and child-centered environment guided by dedicated and supportive teachers and staff. Sanders-Clyde is uniquely positioned in the center of two public housing neighborhoods and supported by various community partners such as Charleston Promise Neighborhood, a nonprofit organization that has enriched the lives of our scholars and staff for many years by sponsoring countless school activities, programs, and personnel. The co-teaching model with an emphasis on the SC College, Career, and Readiness Standards allows us to more definitively meet the needs of our scholars through a laser-like focus on integrating the arts across the curriculum and providing opportunities to think more critically at higher levels of engagement.
Creativity is a goal that we will continue to reinforce in the coming years. It has been addressed mainly in the Extended Learning afterschool program which provides various opportunities for scholars to participate in accelerated visual and performing arts programs. Students engage in art forms that integrate listening, speaking, reading, writing, and math skills such as Maritime boat building, Story Tree Theatre, African drumming and dance, and sweetgrass basket weaving. The goal is to highly engage our students in a way that taps into their natural talents and provides them the stage to blossom in ways that enrich the learning in the core content areas.
Critical Thinking is needed in order to increase students’ understanding of how to successfully solve problems in today’s world. Our students are challenged with best practices in Guided Reading, Guided Math, Accelerated Reader, research-based digital content, and integration of literature and writing into all content and related arts to ensure that they put their knowledge to work in order to become independent learners and reach their full potential. Professional Learning Collaborative Teams provide the tools and strategies teachers need to support student achievement in all areas.
The PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) model will continue to drive the work at Sanders-Clyde. “Practice Makes Permanent” is our mantra until every child, every day, succeeds.
Janice Malone, Principal
Danielle Daniels, SIC Chair
