Ninety Six Primary School assists all students to develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by embedding engaging educational opportunities for students in the areas of critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration across all subject areas. Teachers and staff members are constantly working towards improving our understanding of these areas through professional development and instructional conversations. Our goal is to empower our students to be life-long learners in all aspects of life and play an active role in making our world a better place.
Our school uses Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) as a focus for our school-wide behavior system. It is very important for our school to implement ways to reinforce positive behavior while teaching the expectations for our school community. We have spent this year updating our PBIS matrix and providing visuals of our PBIS guidelines for all areas of our campus. We also provided ways for students to celebrate positive behaviors such as Positive Office Referrals, Terrific Kids monthly awards and PBIS monthly incentives. It is our hope that students choosing to follow school-wide expectations will assist in them becoming responsible citizens in the future.
In the core curriculum, students learn reading and writing through a varied approach that includes frequent choice in material and/or topics. In addition, students work in cooperative groups in all content areas. The rigorous curriculum includes whole group and small group instruction on a daily basis, which allows students to demonstrate their ability to work effectively and respectfully with peers and adults. Students listen, read, write, and speak daily as part of the curriculum. Over the course of the year, students research various topics and synthesize their learning in a variety of print and multi-media formats. The core curriculum fosters creativity and innovation by allowing students multiple opportunities to develop the skills of divergent thinking, perseverance, and risk-taking. Engagement in the core curriculum also bolsters students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills. Collaboration and teamwork are developed alongside communication, information, media, and technology skills as students engage with the curriculum, one another, teachers and technology.
Student participation in weekly STREAM lab (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, mathematics) provides opportunity to brainstorm ideas and create new products. This builds critical thinking and problem solving through experimentation with a variety of materials, including technology. Creativity and innovation are developed in the STREAM lab as students are given multiple opportunities to develop the skills of divergent thinking, perseverance, and risk-taking. Since students frequently work in cooperative groups, collaboration, teamwork and communication are developed as students create and design in the STREAM lab.
All students have district issued Chrome Books that are used for school work. Teachers incorporate the use of these devices as a regular part of the school day, thereby developing students’ technology and communication skills.
Combining the Word Class Skills of creativity and innovation; critical thinking and problem solving; collaboration and teamwork; communication, information, media and technology; and knowing how to learn with the school’s vision of educating all students to achieve their full potential and become productive citizens in today’s global society.
