Carver-Lyon Elementary School strives to help all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the Graduate by providing sound instruction and incorporating evidence-based practices into classrooms daily. The staff offers multiple opportunities for our students to express their creativity and learn to collaborate and work as a team through activities such as Bucket Drumming and various leadership experiences. Carver-Lyon Elementary School serves approximately 400 students from Pre-K to fifth grade. We are a school-within-a-school model and house the Richland One Language Immersion Program, where we offer French, Spanish, and Chinese through a 50-50 dual-language model.
At Carver-Lyon Elementary School, we work diligently to be a school where caring and knowledgeable adults teach children to love learning and become honorable and responsible citizens and leaders of local and global communities. We aim to prepare all students to be global leaders and global citizens. Typically, students engage in various cultural experiences throughout the school year, including Black History Month activities, Chinese New Year activities, Cinco de Mayo activities, Hispanic Heritage Month activities, and Mardi Gras activities.
Our language immersion students learn to read, write, speak, and understand English and a second language by spending 50% of their instructional day immersed in a foreign language. Additionally, our traditional students receive Spanish instruction. Meaningful connections between language instruction and everyday life guide students to see themselves as bilingual communicators, global leaders, and citizens.
Carver-Lyon Elementary School is located in the historic Waverly Community in inner-city Columbia, South Carolina. As a Title I elementary school, funding supports continuous professional development for teachers, varied resources and equipment to support classroom instruction, focused academic and social interventions, and family engagement activities. Carver-Lyon Elementary School maintains a 1:1 technology environment, providing iPads or laptops for students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade.
Our vision is to help all students learn about themselves, others, and their responsibility in shaping our global society. We are presently incorporating programs such as Student Council, the Morning News Show, clubs, and Character Recognition, which support the development of well-rounded students. The implementation of these initiatives is designed to ensure our learning community remains safe, caring, and nurturing for everyone. We have also embraced a growth mindset by incorporating mindfulness as a school-wide initiative.
The instructional staff at Carver-Lyon Elementary School participates in professional learning communities to improve instruction and student learning. Collaboration among teachers allows for the planning and execution of effective lessons and teaching strategies through Language Bridging and best practices, as well as the development of appropriate standards-based assessment tools to monitor and track student progress. A continued school-wide emphasis is centered on building literacy, mathematical competence, core content knowledge, and test-taking skills across all content areas. To this end, we continue to work to increase the percentage of students meeting and/or exceeding standards and achieving mastery on standardized assessments.
Carver-Lyon Elementary School celebrates recognition for obtaining the USDA HealthierUS School Challenge Award and having five National Board Certified Teachers on staff. One of our teachers was selected as the District's Teacher of the Year for the 2025–2026 school year. Several students have also been honored in the District's Literacy Festival and arts competitions. The school has sponsored Career Day, Real Men Read, and Girls Empowerment programs. Partnerships with several community organizations assist in meeting the needs of identified students and families.
Carver-Lyon Elementary School's theme is One Team, One Dream, where all stakeholders work together to provide optimal student support.
Dr. Monica T. Adams – Principal
Saqueena Shand – SIC Chair
