Principal Narrative
Forts Pond Elementary School’s motto, “Fulfill the Potential of Every Student,” is the foundation for both our school culture and our learning environment. FPES is helping each student develop the world-class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by providing a rigorous and engaging curriculum, as well as a nurturing learning environment that focuses on leadership and the development of self-directed learners. As a Leader in Me Lighthouse School, our goals focus on reading and writing proficiency, mathematics fluency and leadership development. A highlight of the school year was working through the development of our district and school strategic plan. All of our stakeholders had an opportunity to identify our areas of strength and areas for improvement. The success of our strategic plan requires the support of the local community, an active PTO, an involved School Improvement Council, a committed Leader in Me Parent Lighthouse Team and dedicated students. We are privileged to have each one as a part of our FPES community. This collaborative work allowed us to refocus our work to make FPES a stronger learning environment for all students.
FPES works to develop the potential in each student building a foundation for exemplifying a competent 21st century graduate who is prepared for college and career. Our school’s theme for this year, “All Aboard the LeaderSHIP,” supported our focus on developing each student’s abilities to lead and learn.
We provide students an atmosphere that nurtures their creative and academic abilities. We focus on providing students with opportunities for critical thinking, problem-solving and collaborating. Our students are developing their abilities to know how to learn and what to do if they are not learning. As a school we set schoolwide goals in writing and math proficiency. In order to achieve schoolwide goals, each grade level, each class and each individual worked to achieve these same goals. Students set individual goals in writing and math, tracked these goals for progress and celebrated when they met their goals. Tracking of goals is also done by class and grade level to monitor progress toward meeting schoolwide goals. This data can be seen in the hallways, classrooms and each student’s leadership notebook.
Rigorous standards are taught in Language Arts through Units of Study in Reading and Writing. Teachers had a unique opportunity to work with staff developers from the University of Columbia’s Reading and Writing Project. This work proved to be essential in providing students with rigorous learning opportunities. The Everyday Mathematics curriculum focuses on a spiraling curriculum that reinforces abstract mathematical concepts through real-world applications. Our blended-learning model across all subject areas allows us to use differentiated instruction that addresses different learning styles and provides rigorous learning for all students. This instructional model allows all students to receive individual instruction and learning experiences that use a combination of digital learning, small-group instruction and collaboration to engage students as they achieve excellence in learning.
FPES is one of 419 The Leader in Me Lighthouse Schools across the globe. The Leader in Me is a whole-school transformation model that equips students with the self-confidence and skills needed to develop the life and career characteristics of the 21st century South Carolina Graduate. While developing leadership skills, we also develop citizenship skills. Our students strive to be leaders by serving in schoolwide roles and leading service projects to make a difference in the world. These projects include Relay For Life, Jump Rope for Heart, Pawmetto Lifeline’s pet supply drive and a Thanksgiving food drive.
We believe all students have the potential to be great leaders and it is our job to help each one develop effective leadership skills and find their own greatness. Every child’s development in elementary school creates a strong foundation for future academic abilities, leading to college and career readiness, engaged citizenship and lifelong learning. At FPES, we are committed to developing this strong foundation for every child.
The FPES Vision is for all students to become self-directed, collaborative, creative and caring learners who flourish in the global, competitive 21st century. FPES strives to inspire and prepare all students to become productive and successful leaders who excel in all areas of the profile of a South Carolina Graduate. We are very proud of our Mighty Mallards and, as a team, will continue to push all students to achieve personal greatness.
Michelle Smith, Principal
Ashley Leaphart, SIC Chair