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| Simpsonville Elementary • 200 Morton Avenue • Simpsonville, SC 29681 • (864)355-8300 | Saturday, May 26, 2012 |
Executive Summary ofNeeds
assessment findings
to the Our Strategic Plan/School Portfolio
"Simpsonville Elementary School at Morton Place is a neighborhood school working in partnership with committed parents, eager students and dedicated professionals striving to achieve success…nothing less."
Simpsonville Elementary School is a kindergarten through grade five public school. We moved into our new facility in August, 2003. Our new school is the result of combining Morton Elementary and Simpsonville Elementary in 2002-2003 and is located on the old Morton site. We lost a portion of our higher socio-economic population in 2002 with the opening of the new Bell’s Crossing Elementary. At the same time, we merged with a Title I School.
Our new building houses 682 students and 48 instructional staff members. It is one of 50 elementary schools in the Greenville County School District. Simpsonville Elementary School at Morton Place is located in Simpsonville, South Carolina.
The facilities at Simpsonville Elementary School consist of 41 classrooms, 7 resource, speech and conference rooms, 2 art rooms, 2 music rooms, administrative offices, a cafetorium, multi-purpose room/gym, athletic track, media center, guidance office, health room suite, science lab, and a computer lab. Special features: computers in all classrooms, wall-mounted TV’s, communication (phone) access in each classroom, outdoor dining area, covered playground area for Kindergarten, P.T.A. office, separate bus and car pick-up areas. etc.
Our school leaders promote quality instruction by actively supporting teaching and learning. Teachers are encouraged to attend workshops, conferences and other professional development activities throughout the year in addition to workshops that are planned at our school. (See our Professional Development section of our School Portfolio.)
We believe…
&Each student has an equal and fundamental right to an education.
&All children have significant worth and should be provided the best educational opportunities for reaching their greatest potential.
&The educational process is a partnership among students, parents, educators, and the community.
&Each child, through his/her cultural diversity, contributes to an enriched society.
&A nurturing environment encourages success in learning.
&Early school success fosters continued positive learning/achievement.
&The primary focus of education is to provide the building blocks that facilitate growth and life-long learning.
Our Mission at Simpsonville Elementary is to prepare student to be productive, respectful and responsible.
Our Vision…Simpsonville Elementary School’s vision stems from a child-centered focus on improving the curriculum, instruction, assessment, and environmental factors that support effective learning for our students
Our Goals for 2008-09 to 2012-13
Goal #1: Raise the academic challenge and performance of each student.
· Objectives:
§ The percentage of students who meet or exceed their MAP Target Goal in Reading will increase by 2% annually from 2008-09 to 2012-13.
§ The percentage of students who meet or exceed their MAP Target Goal in Math will increase by 2% annually from 2008-09 to 2012-13
· Strategies:
§ Use test scores to determine strengths and weaknesses in the curriculum.
§ Provide additional support to students identified as having weaknesses in math and/or language arts with Leveled Readers, Lexia and Compass Odyssey.
§ Use state math and language arts standards and district curriculum guides.
§ Continue Larson’s Morning Math Achievers for students who scored Basic but are within 4-8 points of scoring Proficient on PACT Math in 2008 and in the 30th to 50th percentile on MAP in Math.
Goal #2: Teacher/Administrator Quality.
· Objectives:
§ Core Teachers will be provided Professional Development Activities so that our ELA and Mathematics goals for student achievement will be reached from 2008-09 to 2012-13.
· Strategies:
§ Faculty and staff will participate in classes, workshops, and site visits to observe quality instruction
§ Learning focused Cycle I training will be provided to all teachers.
§ Authentic Assessment Workshop will be provided to our teachers
§ Compass Odyssey software training
§ Learning Focused Cycle II training will be provided to all teachers.
Goal # 3: School Climate (Parental involvement, Safe/Healthy schools, etc.).
· Objectives:
§ Increase number of ESOL parents involved in our school from 7 in 2007-08 to 27 in 2012-2013.
· Strategies:
§ Encourage greater parent participation in classroom enrichment programs and P.T.A. activities such as Build-a-book, ESOL P.T.A. Parent Group and Tutoring.
§ Conduct monthly SIC meetings
§ Schedule teacher-parent conferences
§ Involve Hispanic parents in our school activities and provide translators
Overview of Simpsonville’s recent improvement accomplishments / improvement efforts for last 3-5 years:
► New building with updated facilities
o Internet in all classrooms
o Science Lab instructor and Computer Lab Assistant
o Handicap accessibility
► Every Day Counts Math training for all teachers
► 4-Blocks implementation at all grade levels
► Larson’s Morning Math Achievers in computer lab before school
► After school program with Lexia and Compass Odyssey Software
► Implementation of Action Teams
► Good News Club
► Mad Science Classes
► More supportive P.T.A. and business partners
► Creating a warm, friendly environment, a home away from home
Significant challenges facing our school:
► Limited funding for mandated programs
► Adding and mainstreaming Intermediate ED and LD classes
► Communicating with ESOL parents
► No Child Left Behind rating by our disabled population
► Homework help for ESOL students
► Time to carry out innovative ideas
► Increased class sizes, up to 32 student, due to special ed inclusion
Major Findings:
► Need for an after school remediation program
► Increase in Challenge student population
► Need for parent education programs
► We are blessed to learn and work in a school with a happy, caring attitude
Please enjoy this comprehensive summary of Simpsonville Elementary as it provides the story of who we are and how we work together to continuously improve what we do to prepare our students to become successful citizens and participants in the future world!