White Knoll Elementary School is helping all students develop the World-Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by creating an environment that promotes rigorous instruction along with engaging activities to produce students who think critically and are able to solve problems collaboratively. The teachers of White Knoll Elementary are committed to ongoing analysis of assessments and classroom data to enable them to plan effective instruction that reach individual needs with a clear purpose.
Our White Knoll community has been reviewing and analyzing the mission and vision of our school. Through this process, all stakeholders communicated important factors to WKE’s success and decided to create a new mission that speaks to our values. Our new mission states: At WKE we are committed to educating ALL children by building lasting relationships and nurturing each child for success. WKE’s stakeholders embrace the Lexington School District One’s Vision: Empower Each Child to Design the Future. This process has communicated the importance to all stakeholders the value of collaborating ideas and honoring feedback to support the best interest of our school.
The faculty and staff at WKE believe in “Cultivating Kindness” throughout their classrooms and our school. Building genuine relationships sets the foundation for stronger classroom structures and promotes lifelong learning. We use Love and Logic strategies by Jim Fay along with equity conversations to promote cultural responsiveness in our classrooms. Knowing a student’s background enables teachers to better connect with families and maintains a positive home/school relationship. Through the diverse population at WKE, students are learning to give back to a variety of organizations. Giving to the community is one way that students can develop their self-concept. We were able to connect this idea with one of our own students to make a generous donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We are in the process of becoming a Unified Champion School, promoting inclusion for all students with special needs. We attended our first Special Olympics Ceremony this year. WKE provided many opportunities for students to support our community. Students participated in our annual Relay For Life, honored many veterans with a Veterans Day celebration breakfast, donated books for a book-sharing library, made cards for our community nursing home and donated food items for Mission Lexington, formerly LICS.
WKE has completed year two of our partnership with Code to the Future, a computer science immersion program across grades K–5. During the 2018–2019 school year, our students completed three coding cycles — Scratch, Legos and Minecraft — with an emphasis on integrating projects into the core curriculum. Students participated in building demonstrations of learning with culminating projects that were presented as Epic Build showcases and keynotes for parents, district leaders and community members. Through these Epic builds and coding projects, we see students enjoying and applying critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.
Teachers were provided an opportunity to attend professional conferences to expand their knowledge of ELA and math. Together with our instructional coaches, teachers worked to share their learning with other colleagues through an “unconference.” Our “unconferences” were held during our Monday Collaborative Conversation time. Teachers were given an opportunity to choose a session based on their instructional needs and interests; those who attended the professional conferences facilitated sessions. Through this process, we were able to build capacity and empower teachers to share their learning with their peers. This professional learning meant that additional resources were needed for the successful implementation of our curriculum. Our PTO and community worked with school officials and students to generate more than $10,000 through their annual fundraising event. These funds were used to purchase a set of Chromebooks for teachers to check out from our Learning Commons to enhance the instructional needs of students. We continue to involve our parents and community members by hosting events such as Muffins for Moms, Donuts for Dads, Reading Prize Patrol and Skate Night. Parents and community are an integral component of our school’s success.
White Knoll Elementary School will continue to help all students develop the World-Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by nurturing a rich, positive school culture which sets high expectations for our students to excel. Our families and community will continue to be proud to support our motto: WKES — We Love, We Learn, We Grow.
Nicole Mitchell, Principal
Jennifer McPherson, SIC Chair
