Newington Elementary School is rooted in tradition but also leads the way to provide the 21st century skills for all students. Since its opening in 1977, Newington has been recognized for multiple awards, including Palmetto’s Finest, A Leader in Me Lighthouse School, the National PTA School of Excellence, A Red Carpet School, numerous Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards, and seven Excellent state report card ratings. As we continue to strive for excellence for all our students, we provide a school culture and academic atmosphere that allows our students to develop the world class skills to match the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.

Working with 730 students ranging from four years old to fifth grade, we use integrated instruction to teach through relationships, rigor, and relevance. As a Leader in Me school, our children learn how to be leaders of themselves and in their communities. Our expectation of “Newington Leaders are World Class Leaders” serves as the foundation for planning of instructional and service-learning connections to real world events, careers, and issues.

For the 2021-2022 school year, we put a strong emphasis into strengthening our students in writing using the Writing with Design curriculum. Our math and literacy models form the framework for the direct instruction provided and the critical thinking structure of our curriculum. As a school, we have established goals that we track and monitor over the year as a school, grade level, class, and individual students. We challenge students to think critically through STEM, the arts, self-selected research, analogies, projects, coding, breakout challenges, creative teacher lessons, and leadership initiatives. Students learn how to use technology to facilitate their learning, collaborate with peers, and interact through digital interfaces to foster their understanding of curriculum and state standards.

Our future leaders are provided opportunities to further their communication and collaboration skills in public experiences of leadership. Our entire school family recognizes the 8 Habits of Highly Effective People as the basis of our school culture and applies the habits daily in personal and academic context. As a school community we are committed to providing meaningful learning opportunities, building relationships, and cultivating a safe and positive community of leaders.