Nursery Road Elementary School - Arts Magnet is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing rigorous and engaging instruction of the State Standards through the integration of the Arts at all grade levels. As the only Arts in Basic Curriculum (ABC) site in the district, our mission is to motivate, empower, and support students to accomplish individual goals within challenging arts integrated curricula and to develop successful citizens in a diverse community. Competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Education Magnet Schools Assistance Program and South Carolina Department of Education Distinguished Arts Program have supported opportunities for all students to learn World Class Skills such as creativity and innovation and collaboration and teamwork. Furthermore, we were awarded an extremely prestigious certification of Magnet School of Excellence by Magnet Schools of America.

Creativity and innovation are celebrated in individual classrooms and school-wide. All students experience an extended Related Arts rotation that provides them with opportunities to create digital media such as iMovies, animations, and digitally created artworks in our Media Arts Studio using Mac computers and iPads. Students compose and record music in our Instrumental Music Studio using electric guitars, drums, and MIDI boards, and perform dance sequences that tie into our culturally-relevant Social Studies curriculum.

Our students use iPads and chromebooks to bring learning to life as tools for critical thinking, research, and problem solving. Technology is used to develop Math and Language Arts skills as well as computer science skills in the form of coding.

Collaboration and teamwork are evident in all classrooms. Our teachers continue to meet every child where they are, using differentiated small group instruction. Through Data Teams, our teachers collaborate and seek out research-based best practices to make data driven decisions each day for their students. As a result, we see our students experience academic gains each day in the classroom.

Collaboration and teamwork can be observed on stage during our school-wide performances where our students bring the State Standards to life.  This is also demonstrated in every arts integration lesson and through teacher implementation of cooperative learning strategies. All certified staff participated in a summer institute to receive training in Cooperative Learning. These strategies increase student engagement, student accountability, and  promote equity for all students, while decreasing undesired student behavior.

Our motto at Nursery Road Elementary School - Arts Magnet is “Nurturing Relationships, Establishing Success.” It is our goal to continue to nurture relationships with our students, families, and community for the success of our students and to ensure they are prepared for tomorrow’s challenges.

Love Ligons, Principal

John Cantey, SIC Chairperson