Red Bank Elementary School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by empowering our students with the world-class skills of creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. We believe in the use of innovation and technology as well as the transparency of the learning expectations. The South Carolina College and Career Ready Standards are explicitly translated to and unpacked for the students so that they become adept at goal setting in order to become proficient in their learning.
At Red Bank Elementary, we continue to work to implement a system of personalized, competency-based learning. We recognize that every child learns in different ways and at different rates. Therefore, all children are supported to reach levels of proficiency before moving on to additional learning that is based upon other foundational skills.
As a faculty and staff, we continue to work on meeting students exactly where they are through collaboration centered around the use of formative student data. Both teachers and teaching interventionists work together to track student progress, with the support of instructional coaches, to provide "just right" instructional strategies promoting student growth. Being intentional in providing personalized learning opportunities contributed to an overall rating of “Excellent” on the 2019 School Report Card, indicating that “school performance substantially exceeds the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of the SC Graduate.”
Reflection is an integral component of the learning process at Red Bank Elementary and, as a result, students are able to set goals for what should be learned next, identify strategies they will use to work toward the goal, and then track the strategies that lead to success. Keeping track of their learning through a leadership notebook or a digital platform makes students knowledgeable of the learning progression and allows them to celebrate their growth.
Through the SC Department of Education and its Office of Personalized Learning, Red Bank Elementary receives support in our personalized, competency-based learning system. During the 2019-2020 school year, five educators participated in professional learning customized to our school through the Ongoing Support Cohort. This two year commitment will continue for the 2020-2021school year. We were selected as a host school for the Transform SC Bus Tour which allows business leaders, educators, students, parents, and policymakers to visit schools that are transforming public education. Red Bank Elementary has also hosted visits from multiple schools throughout the state who hope to learn from us as they work towards school transformation. The SC Department of Education hosted two Inquiry Labs at Red Bank Elementary School this school year, where nearly 80 educators interested in learning about personalized, competency-based learning attended.
Student agency and leadership are central to the work we do at RBE. Action research is used to develop tools and strategies to increase student agency in multiple ways. Learner profiles and pathways have been developed to support flexible learning environments which allows our students to be partners in the learning. Standards-based reporting has allowed Red Bank to provide authentic feedback in meaningful ways.
Students come from a variety of backgrounds with different experiences creating a need to emphasize equity at Red Bank in order to ensure ALL students are learning at high levels. Students apply for leadership roles in their classrooms and throughout the school for committee positions and to lead all programs and assemblies. Stephen Covey’s 8 Habits of Highly Effective People are integral to the way we work and learn together enabling our students to learn the characteristics that will support them now and throughout their lives. The inclusive culture at Red Bank Elementary demonstrates a sense of collaboration and respect for all. Our students strive to be their best selves and help others to do the same.
Red Bank Elementary continues to benefit from the support of business partners such as Michelin, Bojangles, and our local faith community. Over 60 students are provided with mentors through these partnerships. Relationships and community are an important part of our school culture.
While this has been an unusually different school year, Red Bank Elementary has had many celebrations. We received funding to allow for professional learning in the area of Project Based Learning through the Lexington One Foundation Innovations Grant. Through a grant funded by Children's Trust of South Carolina, we completed a 14-week cycle of the Strengthening Families Program which provided a meal and evening instruction for local families. The program provides learning activities to build a stronger, more effective family unit. Our spring cycle was underway when the COVID-19 surge led to school closure.
We have appreciated the support and patience of our families as we transitioned to Distance Learning Experiences as the result of school closure. The Red Bank Elementary staff worked diligently to provide continuity of learning by providing quality Distance Learning Experiences during the last quarter of the year. Numerous educators were able to participate in virtual learning opportunities to become innovators of new ways to deliver learning during this time. We were also fortunate to serve as a community feeding site, allowing Lexington One families to drive through for daily meal pickup. Meals were also delivered to surrounding neighborhoods to help ease the transition for our students while unable to attend school. Numerous staff members took this opportunity to volunteer and assist with the feeding program to continue to serve our students. Our three Distance Learning Experience packet pick up dates were well received and well attended. While we have truly missed having our students present in our building, we were thrilled to be able to see them in their vehicles on pick up days. We ended our year with a wonderful socially-distanced drive-through parade where school retirees “reigned” over the processional and hundreds of decorated vehicles with our smiling students followed the route.
Other celebrations included our school’s teacher of the year being named a district finalist along with three of our Spanish immersion teachers being recognized as Teachers of Power Skills in the areas of Communication, Collaboration, and Willingness to Take Risks. Multiple Red Bank Elementary teachers were grant recipients from a variety of organizations, including Michelin and W.P. Rawl.
As a Title I school, we used school data to determine where our funding would have the greatest impact on student learning. Our youngest students who needed extra reading support participated in a three-week summer reading camp through a virtual platform.
At Red Bank Elementary, our school-wide Code of Cooperation reads: “We encourage each other. We learn every day. We never give up. We are strong leaders. We are Red Bank.” As always we will continue to strive to lead, to learn, to love and to pass it on.
Janet B. Ricard, Principal
April Spires, School Improvement Council Chairperson