Deerfield Elementary School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the South Carolina Graduate by building a strong system-wide belief in “Success Every Day for Every Child Through Leadership and Learning.” This year we continued building positive relationships and increasing Family Engagement within our building so all stakeholders developed a sense of belonging at Deerfield Elementary School. We implemented our TRACKS (“Take Responsibility, Respect, Appreciate, Collaborate, Knowledge, and Safety) Check-ins during Morning Meetings and grade-level Hallway Huddles to help our students build an understanding of personal responsibility in their learning and the learning of others.
This year we were excited to focus on fine-tuning effective implementation of instructional practices to foster a learning environment that encouraged teachers and students to take academic risks to achieve goals. During professional development sessions throughout this year, teachers and staff reviewed a variety of data (iReady data, Text Levels, Exit Slips, Item Analysis from Common Assessments, Individual Checklist/Rubric data, etc.) to identify trends and needs for our students. This work allowed us to track student growth and identify instructional gaps we needed to support teachers/staff in.
This year we continued sharing with families how to support students’ learning at home through Parent University (workshops) and family engagement activities throughout the school year. Our Tiniest Trailblazers (ages 3 and 4) were able to participate with a grown-up in our Tiny Trailblazer session each week across a 14-week program. We were pleased to have great attendance at all of our family engagements and extracurricular activities.
To maximize our instructional time with students we created a Master Schedule that allowed students to get additional support in subjects during times when new learning was not occurring in the classroom. We also implemented heavy collaboration between our Intervention Team and Homeroom Teachers when developing academic plans for students so a streamlined goal was worked on by all.
As a Title I school, Deerfield Elementary School continued to support our school work plan goals by utilizing a Full Time Math Coach and an additional Interventionist for our students/staff. Students were also able to enjoy another book fair this year allowing them to select two books for their home libraries. We were also able to supply our students/families with all necessary school supplies (which was much appreciated) We also have a Family Liaison due to Title I funds that is able to support families with resources as needs arise.
As a TSI (Targeted Support and Improvement) school this year we developed a Data Based Instruction Team that met weekly to look at subgroup data for our Special Education students, which is the subgroup that was identified as underperforming the past three years. In these weekly meetings, we did professional development around Bridges (a new curriculum used for math Special Education students this year at DES), narrowing IEP goals, strategic grouping of students following the Master Schedule, and progress monitoring weekly student data using EasyCBM data. We also aligned the work of the DBI Team with the school work plan goals. The intentional work of this team, helped our students achieve great growth and resulted in DES being removed from the TSI list for the upcoming year.
This year we became a Dual Immersion School as we began to phase in Spanish Immersion with our rising first grade cohort (as German Immersion phases out one grade level at a time). In addition to building young bilingual students, our program continues to send immersion students to middle school each year to continue their studies. Our German and Spanish Immersion students have continued to grow and learn mathematics and science in German/Spanish and reading, writing and social studies in English.
At Deerfield Elementary School (DES), we are dedicated to supporting families and students by providing a wide range of learning experiences and opportunities. Our core belief is centered around the idea of building "Success Every Day for Every Child Through Leadership and Learning." Through collaborative efforts, we strive to create an environment where students, families, and staff feel excited and proud to be part of the Trailblazer community at Deerfield. Together, we are shaping a place where growth, achievement, and a sense of belonging thrive.
Stephanie Taylor, Principal
Brock Gilliam, SIC Chair
