Midway Elementary School is helping all students to develop the World-Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by fostering a safe and nurturing environment for the development of each student through collaboration, best practices and high expectations. MES’s focus this year has been on the development of inquiry-based learning while continuing the growth and development of our reading and writing curriculum. We also continue to embrace our 21st Century Skills for Global Citizens, the 4 C’s, and physical activity.
Professional learning through the Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching and Learning was utilized to support our teachers in the implementation of inquiry-based learning through projects and problems. Project and problem-based learning extended our prior learning on the development of performance tasks. This meaningful learning focused on real-life application while increasing student engagement.
Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study — Reading and Writing continued to guide our ELA instruction. This year was our third year with the Units of Study — Reading. Teachers participated in Coaching Cycles and professional development hosted by our school and district. Additional professional learning was continued through the summer via Teachers College and Homegrown Institute. Through ELA instruction, teachers collaborated to develop authentic learning for students and designed methods for showcasing this learning, including soirées, wax museums and writing celebrations.
This was our third year for hosting student-led conferences schoolwide. Students shared their data notebooks with parents and staff, including goals and reflections on the learning of which they were proud, as well as what they wanted to improve. This was a phenomenal event as students owned their learning and continued our implementation of proven best practices. We also continued to utilize and develop best practices from former professional learning, such as crew meetings, learning targets and the unpacking of them with students.
As we continue to value physical fitness, we hosted Field Day for all students and Bring Your Parent to PE Week. We continued the Morning Walk/Run Club prior to the start of each school day. Student leaders with their classmates continued to develop Tabata videos for use throughout the school year and during state assessments. These videos were used to energize and focus students. Our fourth and fifth grade students had the opportunity to extend their learning of gymnastics by designing performance routines and performing them at our Rhythm of the Night performance in the evening, then for the entire student body the following day. After-school fitness programs included a co-ed Run Hard team and a Girls on the Run team.
Languages continue to be an important part of MES. Our Partial French Immersion program for kindergarten through fifth grade and our Spanish program for third through fifth grade are designed to support the vision of bilingual graduates. Parent groups support these language programs by sponsoring cultural opportunities that enrich the languages and grow global awareness.
The framework of our 21st Century Skills for Global Citizens supports the development of our student citizenship. Our students strive to be leaders here at school through school jobs as well as making a difference in our world through service projects. Schoolwide projects include Relay For Life, MES Food Drive, ShoeBox Recycling and Camp Kemo. Service learning is extended for grade-level learning through projects as fifth graders collected shoes for reuse around the world.
Through meaningful relationships with our stakeholders and engaging instruction, MES is “making a difference for every child.”
Jan Fickling, Principal
Ryan Poles, SIC Chair