Drayton Hall Elementary School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by ensuring that all staff members are committed to excellence. This is achieved through a rigorous curriculum, setting high expectations for all students, and utilizing a one-to-one learning environment that integrates iPads into daily instruction. Our school culture emphasizes creativity and a collaborative environment. The utilization of South Carolina College and Career Readiness Standards ensures that all students receive a detailed, individualized education that meets their learning needs. Enrichment opportunities are provided through co-planning, co-teaching, and itinerant teachers to meet the needs of all students.
We are recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for our commitment to innovation and technology integration in education. Students collaborate, communicate, and problem solve using the iPad as one tool to demonstrate their learning.
The Second Steps, social-emotional program two years ago Drayton Hall Elementary piloted several years ago, has helped reduce the number of behavior referrals to the office and allowed for a better level of collaboration among students. Using the Second Steps curriculum, the guidance counselor and teachers taught specific skills to support student collaboration, conversation skills, and problem solving to our students. Our academic focus over the 2020-2021 school year continued to be math. CCSD provided additional adaptive digital content to support math for Kindergarten to 5th grade. The focus on math and improved collaboration skills among our students led to improvements on our Math MAP scores this past spring. We are excited to begin using the Bridges Math curriculum for the 2021-2022 school year.
Our PTO is involved in school planning by providing materials to support instruction and rewarding students for achievement. The staff and students also have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities throughout the year. These include: basketball, band, strings, safety patrol, and our student-produced morning news program. The Kaleidoscope program at Drayton Hall offers interactive before- and after-school care.
In order to minimize the impact of COVID-19 disruptions and their impact on student learning, Drayton Hall Elementary School implemented a variety of strategies. First, class sizes were reduced at all grade levels to allow proper spacing and social distancing in the classrooms. Gradually, and as parents became more comfortable sending students to in person classes, class sizes were brought back to close to the average population. Second, special education teachers were able to conduct both in person and virtual instruction. In this way we were able to reach some of our most vulnerable students. Third, our child development program was nearly one-third virtual. Drayton Hall Elementary School was part of a tight group of schools and worked together to reach ALL the students of the West Ashley area of Charleston during this pandemic by “sharing” and “accepting” students from other schools on the virtual platform.
A rigorous curriculum, collegiality, strong leadership, and clear goals define our successes. At Drayton Hall Elementary School, we believe that educating the students in our attendance area (and this year also beyond our area) makes our families’ community stronger and we are part of building a better Charleston.
Brian Agnew, Principal
Corrie Glover, SIC Chair
