Fairforest Elementary's annual Report to the Community is shared with stakeholders through in-person meetings and available on our school website for all internal and external stakeholders. This report clearly communicates our most up-to-date information on demographics, achievement data, goals, partnerships, and innovative practices, such as our ever-growing STEAM program.

Information on curriculum and upcoming topics of study are shared with families through teachers' weekly newsletters. Hard copies of teacher newsletters are sent home in students' communicaiton folders and digital copies are posted on our school's website for easy, on-the-go access for families. Fairforest families are consistently informed about our instructional focus and are encouraged to contact the school with any questions or feedback they may have. As a result of our collaborative planning model, many teachers have chosen to send grade level newsletters while some have continue with personalized, homeroom newsletters. Through both options, FES families are aware of our common goals and instructional focus each week.

Our collaborative, grade level planning meetings exemplify how clear, consistent communication has contributed to Fairforest's student and staff success. Planning documents have evolved throughout the year, illustrating how grade level teams have adapted and made necessary changes based on the needs of their students. All planning documents are shared with grade level teachers, instructional coaches, and administration for continuous evaluation, feedback, and support.

The success of our ongoing partnership with Michelin is a direct result of continuous communication between their volunteer team and our school. Michelin volunteers serve in many different capacities including push-in support for classrooms, lunch buddies, and reading buddies. This requires a great deal of planning, organization, and communication between individual teachers and volunteers once those relationships are established. Communication with outside stakeholders and volunteers ensures that experiences are productive and engaging for everyone involved. Additionally, outcomes of Michelin's involvement is shared and celebrated each year.

Fairforest's Facebook Page is a very effective tool for communicating with internal and external stakeholders regarding important events and achievements. Additionally, it provides valuable data through engagement reports as we are able to see how many people have viewed a particular post. This is especially helpful when trying to push out virtual family events or surveys that may require a response. (Examples 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our fesSTEMtoSTEAM Instagram account is incredibly effective in sharing STEAM-related events and projects, as well as establishing new contacts and audiences for our students. Many of these connections have reached far beyond our school and community, such as Wonderopolis, Science Bob, Ozobot, and Lefty McGoo. We even connected with Michael Platt, teenage baker and entrepreneur, and arranged a Google Meet with him as a part of our 5th grade Global Goals project. Social media connections such as these are incredibly exciting for our students as they are able to see that people outside of our school (even real-life science experts) are paying attention to the work they do.

Virtual family events became a necessity during the height of COVID and provided Fairforest with valuable means of collecting participation data from our families. With participation and responses recorded via a Google Forms, we could easily measure how engaged our families were with a particular activity. Trends in virtual attendance have helped us evaluate these special events, identifying successes and areas for improvement. Evauluation of trends has also provided insight with planning upcoming, in-person events during the 2021-2022 school year.

Fairforest's principal sends a bi-weekly e-blast newsletter, The Fairforest Family Focus, to all families. This is accompanied by a phone call reminding parents to check their e-mails for the newlsetter link so they stay informed about upcoming school events, curriculum focuses, and achievements. Our families are continuously updated about school-wide events and our STEAM focus, and they are also invited to send feedback via FES Faculty and Staff SHOUT OUT Form, Parent Engagement Surveys, and contact links in The Fairforest Family Focus newsletter.

Fairforest's science scope and sequence has evolved to include a school-wide common topic of study each quarter. Each nine weeks, all students investigate the same "wonder question" as a school, allowing students to focus on the over-arching science topic and engage in conversations across classrooms and grade levels. The expectation for teachers to re-structure their instructional plans and shift to an on-going, science- and STEAM-focused curriclum has required continuous support and integrated professional development for teachers in all grade levels. Each week, teachers work with our instructional team (STEAM coordinator, literacy coach, and adminstration) to build grade level frameworks for upcoming weeks of instruction. Our STEAM coordinator, in collaboration with the literacy coach, is always available to offer resources, strategies, and ideas for STEAM integration when needed.

Weekly grade level planning meetings have become an integral part of FES' growth in curriculum organization. The consistent focus on standards, discussions on pacing and student needs, as well as sharing of ideas and resources, ensure that we are working towards a common goal, as grade level teams and as an entire school. Professional development in STEAM practices and curriculum integration is also intentionally embedded into every planning session.

Fairforest utilizes teacher surveys throughout the year to evaluate teacher morale, instruction, and support needed. This data helps guide our strategic management for neccessary instruction and support as well as identify areas of stregnths.

As Fairforest Elementary School, educators strive to remain life-long learners with many attending STEM/STEAM-related conferences and professional development opportunities outside of our school in which they participated and/or presented. These opportunities include: Science Plus Institute at Roper Mountain Science Center, SC Project Based Learning Endorsement courses, FRAX (fraction-focused software program) training, Georgia Tech STEAM Leadership Conference, SC EdTech (above), NASA Langley Centennial Year Teacher Preparation Program, and the ITEEA conference. We pride ourselves in FES's collegial work environment with educators returning from outside professional development opportunities to share newly gained resources and strategies during collaborative planning meetings, strengthening all STEAM educators within the school.

Fairforest 2nd grade students combined social studies, literacy, technology, and the FES Design Process to investigate the changes in our local community over time, design and schedule a tour of Spartanburg, publish a class photojournalism book, and host a book-signing party at a local book shop. This was an incredible project-based experience for our students, who based their research on their own areas of interest and had the opportunity to share their findings in their own words and pictures. Through the publication party, students had the opportunity to connect with a real audience in the community and participate in an authentic author's experience through their book-signing celebration. For full unit plan, click HERE. For a local newspaper article on the project, click HERE.

Inspired by the UN's Global Goals for Sustainable Development for 2030, 5th grade students worked in teams to design community impact passion projects based on a Global Goal of each team's choice. Students spoke with community leaders and experts in various fields, generated and investigated relevant questions to guide their plans, created their final projects, and presented their work to students in other grade levels. All projects connected to science and/or social studies standards for 5th grade, enabling students to understand to connect and understand their ability to foster change on a school- and/or community-wide level. Additional impact projects include a Girl Power Club for primary grades, a social media campaign about environmental issues, and educational early childhood games made from recyclable materials.

As part of their science unit on seasonal changes, kindergarten students investigated ways that humans adapt to colder temperatures. Students then used this information to make connections between their current social studies unit on comparing past and the present day, researching ways in which the Pilgrims kept warm on the Mayflower and on their settlement at Plymouth. As a culminating activity, students chose materials to create blankets for their Pilgrims and checked their temperatures throughout the day to determine which design was best for warmth. Through this project-based learning approach, Fairforest's youngest learners had the opporutnity to explore some very challenging concepts (changes through time, the FES Design Process, and scientific investigations) in a way that was engaging, playful, and meaningful.

Fairforest Elementary first grade students chose to create and present shadow puppet stories to share their light and shadow findings with vairous audienes. As part of this integrated science with ELA unit, students explored their favorite texts, developed characters, settings, and plotlines for simple stories, and investigated the relationship between opaque objects, light sources, and shadows to fine-tune their presentations. First graders were proud to present their stories to kindergarten students, 4th grade students (who were also studying light), and their parents. This project-based approach helped foster mastery of science content (specifically what makes a shadow appear larger or smaller) and connecting authentic purposes while keeping their audience in mind.

Connections with real-world experts are key to Fairforest students' experiences in project-based, inquiry-driven learning. These experiences enable our students to learn through real-world, professional expert presenations as well as through question and answer sessions where students ask relevant questions to support their individual research. Collaboration with outside stakeholders and experts helps students connect their learning to the outside world, bringing project-based experiences to life. (Examples: Civil Engineer, Brian Calsing, Michelin virtual visits, meteorologist interviews, and our Hub City Farmers' Market visitors)

Fairforest Elementary's school-wide Design Process and common language is utilized by all teachers and students. Shared grade-level design challenges led by the STEAM coordinator help students review/familiarize themselves with the process at the start of each school year. Our teachers and students rely on the FES Design Process for project-based and inquiry-focused challenges, as it provides a consistent, school-wide guide that aids in producing authentic work students are eager to share.

4th grade students explored the connections between sound, music, and math through their "Trash Can Band Unit" and performance. Guided the FES Design Process, students completed intense research on the relationship between fractions and musical notation, as well as scientific principles of sound waves including volume and pitch. Students then worked in groups to compose a rhythmic performance to share with classes in younger grades. This integration of science, math, and art was a highly effective inquiry-based unit that provided meaningful applications for the challenging concept of computations with fractions. The unit also ensured equity in rigorous content for students of all levels with our self-contained, special education students participaing in every step of the design process and performance along with their like-aged peers.

Fairforest's inquiry-driven approach is evident through the questions we hear and see our students ask. Through our consistent use of the FES Design Process and focus on inquiry as a vital, first step in research, students have developed the skills to ask deep, relevant questions about topics of study. Our students understand the importance of "wonderings" as well as understand the immense value in asking topic-specific questions to find information so they can complete challenges successfully. It is also a common practice to share student "wonderings" with guest speakers before they visits to assist in guiding conversations. as well as proving students with an opportunity to see and hear how experts listen and care about their interests and understanding. Generating "wonderings" and deep, relevant questions is practiced by all Fairforest students with even the youngest knowing how to ask questions based on their background knowledge in order to develop and apply new understanding.

Genius Hour projects are utilized in many classrooms as they provide students with opportunities to take charge of their learning and explore their individual interests. Fairforest teachers have developed strategies to ensure that Genius Hour time is productive for everyone, with students being held accountable through the use of pre-planning surveys and rubrics based on the FES Design Process.

Fairforest first grade Space Projects illustrate what our students are capable of when given the freedom to make choices about what and how they will learn. Guided by the South Carolina Science College- and Career-Ready Standards for Earth, Moon, and Stars, students were challenged to investigate any question they had about these celestial bodies. Students asked relevant questions, explored resources to find the information they needed, and selected a format for sharing their work with peers. Through this self-directed learning experience, students were provided with choice while teachers facilitated guidance and support as students progressed through the unit. As a result, our first grade students became experts on their selected space topics, took great pride and ownership in their learning, and were incredibly excited to teach and learn from one another.

As Fairforest Elementary strives to foster student curiosity and inquiry, we intentionally host STEM/STEAM experts as guest speakers to assist students in making real-world connections between their learning and the world . Guest speakers value our students' "wonderings" and questions as it helps them create personalized presentations for our students. These personalized presenations allow our students to understand that their thoughts, questions, and learning matters to others. In the photo above, 3rd grade students asked thoughtful questions and took notes during a virtual visit from Franco Aureliani, author of the Tiny Titans series, in preparation for a comic book design project. Click HERE to see first grade student noticings and wonderings created by our first grade classes in preparation for a virtual visit with our Michelin volunteers.

Reflection and self-assessment are part of all major STEAM challenge or inquiry-based projects at Fairforest. As the FES Design Process illustrates, individual students and/or collaborative groups are required to consider the successes and challenges of their projects. Additionally, they must take time to articulate what could be done to improve their prototypes or final products. Many students work to plan and carry out revisions to their prototypes and final products, when time allows. Students are expected to reflect upon their own productivity and collaboration with peers. Our STEAM and inqiry based project rubrics typically include questions about how an individual or group utilzied their time and resolved any conflicts that may have arisen.

Fairforest utilizes student surveys and rubrics throughout the year to evaluate STEM/STEAM instruction and student knowledge of, confidence in, and ability to utilize STEM/STEAM competencies and skills taught. This data helps guide our strategic management for necessary instruction and support for teachers and students alike.

5th'grade's Force and Motion Unit illustrates Fairforest Elementary's success with student-driven learning experiences. Including a digital text set and guidance for students to ultimately design their own force and motion investigations, teachers gave students the freedom to explore their personal force and motion interests within the required content, select texts that would aid them becoming experts of their specific design, and conduct their own experiments and prototypes to learn from and better their design. Opportunities like this allow our students to work in the same manner as real-world experts, allowing them to find purpose and enjoyment in their learning.

Fairforest strives to also provide student choice through quality literacy instruction that is integreated into all content areas. By providing students with autonomy over the type of text they can use and create in order to share their learning with others, FES students are engaged and motivated to work towards deeper levels of understanding. Whether students are reading a variety of texts to research a particular topic or choosing a novel study to support content-area learning, students gain a better understanding of how readers think and question as they read and, how writers write to share their ideas with others. By integrating choice through literacy in our STEAM program, Fairofrest students work to think like scientists, historians, mathematicians, and artists.