At Hodges Elementary School, we help all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing learning experiences that are robust and student centered. As a School of Inquiry, engaging learners through questioning and investigative processes is at the forefront of all we do. With inquiry as our guide, students are provided with learning experiences that nurture the whole child.
Using a common language of inquiry, students are encouraged to become independent thinkers and confident communicators from the first day of kindergarten. Question stems posted in each classroom emphasize self monitoring and serve as a scaffold for reasoning skills and academic conversation. The progression of inquiry based language at each grade level allows students to become confident in expressing ideas in multiple forms. It is not out of the ordinary to walk into a classroom at Hodges Elementary and hear a student using phrases such as “to build upon this idea..” and “I’d like to add..”. For the 2021-2022 school year, we will implement a school wide independent reading block called B.E.E. Time. Books Engage Everyone is an effort to further strengthen our students' critical thinking and reading skills through the lens of inquiry. With these practices, we feel confident that we are instilling what it takes to grow and lead.
Students at Hodges are able to practice leadership and design solutions within the classroom, as well as in the presence of the entire school family. Weekly Monday Morning Gatherings and Friday Celebrations are school-wide meetings in which a class teaches the rest of our Hodges Family what they have learned through a presentation which they design and craft themselves--beginning to final product. While this practice further strengthens a culture focused on learning, the event also allows students an opportunity to showcase the ability to engage with diverse learning sources, gain knowledge, and present through digital or oral presentations, as well as songs, and skits.
We have made it a priority at Hodges to provide students with opportunities to develop networks and engage as citizens. Students participate in community service projects they design in support of local food banks, Relay for Life, Jump Rope for Heart, the Pathway House, the Greenwood Animal Shelter and other non profit organizations. These include various drives, as well as, goods and services markets in order to raise funds for these causes. Students also take an active role in social justice matters and community needs concerns by researching issues within our community and developing plans of actions to provide positive change.
Hodges truly is a place where the whole child is considered in all aspects of what we do. We practice self care with a stellar, all inclusive PE program which teaches the children healthy habits such as Mindful Moments. This continues in the classroom with active brain breaks and SEL activities guided by Responsive Classroom and PBIS models. We celebrate our student growth through the Kiwanis Club Terrific Kid Awards, Character Student of the Month Awards, Eastern Star Outstanding Academic Awards, Citizenship Awards, SC Science Academy Awards, as well as others. At Hodges Elementary, students and teachers thrive in a school full of wonder and inquiry with the goal of being lifelong learners as we exemplify the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.
Christine Rogers, Principal
Jennifer Baker, School Improvement Council Chair
