Welcome! Each school year presents new challenges for all of us; but it also provides an opportunity for us to implement new classroom techniques, teaching strategies and enhance our creative ideas. We work very diligently as a family (faculty, parents, students and community) to make our school, a school of excellence in the Camden City School District. We welcome each school year with a great deal of enthusiasm to meet the greater challenges ahead in educating our children, our most precious resources.
I would like to take this opportunity to share the essence/real meaning/soul/fundamental nature of our Academic Vision. The heart of our educational program is a commitment to 100% literacy and mathematical instruction. The students at Powell Elementary School begin their exposure to print in our onsite preschool classes. As they enter kindergarten they are reading ready. Students at all levels chart their own progress daily using data from a variety of standards-based assessments through a school-wide database. Students are seen working in groups on interdisciplinary research projects, reports, and discussion groups. Mathematical concepts are rooted through a concentration on a hands-on curriculum with real world applications that challenge students at an analytical level. Exemplary student work of all kinds is seen in halls and classrooms, demonstrating that arts infusion, creativity, critical thinking and independent work is the culture of the building. Classification of special education students has become invisible in classrooms that reflect industry, challenge, and diversity.
Teachers meet daily at grade level to collaborate on standards-based planning and to evaluate strategies. Analysis of student work is the focus of grade level planning. There is a free flow of information between grade levels to coordinate programs. In addition, to attending workshops on a variety of topics; teachers meet in study groups to discuss current trends /strategies in the teaching learning process. Ongoing professional development focuses on student achievement. Parents are welcomed and encouraged to participate in workshops, i.e. (Computer & Spanish classes). Change is a collaborative effort at Powell School, with all stakeholders empowered to take responsibility and to voice ideas, and to share the work of being successful.
— Ms. Janice L. Taylor
