2021-2022 SIC Report to the Parents

Pine Street Elementary School

500 S. Pine Street  *  Spartanburg, SC 29302
Phone: 864-594-4470

The purpose of the SIC Report to Parents is to highlight Pine Street Elementary School’s progress in achieving the goals and objectives of our Five-Year School Improvement Plan and our SIC’s annual goals.  Working together through the global COVID-19 pandemic, our school and community has functioned and thrived during these trying times.  This letter will detail just some of the important work happening in our school this year. 

• Principal – Dennis Regnier

• Assistant Principal – Erin Davis

• Assistant Principal – Lynnell Lawson

• SIC Chair - Becky Smith / Beth Hray

Pine Street Elementary School, one of the oldest schools in Spartanburg County, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Our doors opened for the first time in the fall of 1929.  The 2021 – 2022 school year marks our 92nd year of excellence at Pine Street Elementary School.  We continue to grow stronger each year as evidenced by our school report card ratings and school achievement data. These accomplishments reflect the hard work and dedication of our entire school community. Moving forward, we will continue to focus on the educational experiences for our students and providing a safe, nurturing, and caring environment.

The entire faculty and staff are ready for the many challenges and rewards of our work as well as the new opportunities to make a quality education a reality for every student in our community.  Looking to the future, we are planning to continue expanding the use of technology in the classrooms while maintaining an Arts Infused approach to instruction. Using these tools for instruction, we have created a healthy, productive atmosphere of collegiality and collaborative learning.  Together, as a team, we have embraced our responsibility to inspire and equip our students with the college and career-ready skills they will need in an ever-evolving society and workforce.  The success of our school is a direct result of the strong partnerships created with our parents, students, teachers, and the entire community.  Pine Street Elementary School will continue our rich tradition of excellence and foster strong steady growth for all stakeholders.  

As part of Spartanburg District 7, we believe the use of technology can greatly support learning and instruction in our classrooms.   In conjunction with our outstanding teachers, our 1:1 initiative (one device for every child), aims to create a truly student-centered, 21st century learning environment.  The initiative involves the full digital immersion of classrooms in Pine Street Elementary School. Under the initiative, all District Seven students in grades 2-12 receive a 13" MacBook Air laptop and K-1 classrooms are equipped iPads.  In addition, every certified staff member uses a MacBook Air laptop or iPad for many parts of daily instruction.  This mobile technology allows students and staff to access learning anytime and anyplace. In addition, every classroom is equipped with a Promethean interactive ActivPanel.  The availability and immersion of technology in the learning environment empowers our students by providing opportunities to garner the skills to compete successfully in today’s society. We are confident this vision of student-centered learning, supported by an array of technology resources, will ignite an educational spark and produce future-ready graduates.

In addition to a devoted faculty and staff, the parents of Pine Street students have a proud reputation for diving into the life of the school with tremendous love and loyalty. In fact, The Pine Street School Foundation was formed in 2009 by a group of parents and grandparents seeking to help ensure that Pine Street Elementary School has the resources needed to enhance an already exceptional educational experience. Thanks to annual gift support from nearly 200 friends and local businesses, the Foundation has invested more than $300,000 in grants to teachers and is consistently supportive of their time and talent.

Arts Infusion

Pine Street Elementary School is accredited with one of the most notable fine arts programs in the state of South Carolina and is part of District 7’s Odyssey program for gifted and talented students. The school’s rigorous academic curriculum is enhanced by instruction in drawing and painting, graphic design, ballet, jazz, creative movement, dramatic interpretation, puppetry, and creative writing. With its niche focus in the arts, Pine Street School was named an ABC (Arts in the Basic Curriculum) site by the South Carolina Arts Commission in 1989 and is a model site for schools across the state and the nation.  The following honors and distinctions speak to the school’s motto that, “Excellence is Expected and is our Standard.”  

Arts infusion (also called Arts Integration) is an approach to teaching and learning that integrates skills and content from an art form with another subject area.  By having instructional objectives in both areas, the goal of this blending of instruction is to deepen student understanding in the subject area as well as the art form, allowing both disciplines to mutually support and strengthen each other.

Arts infusion engages and motivates students by emphasizing active learning rather than passive learning. Understanding that students have different learning styles and various multiple intelligences, the arts generate numerous ways for students to construct and demonstrate their understanding of subject matter.  This approach to teaching gives greater context to students’ learning and makes their educational experiences more meaningful. Instead of seeing each subject in isolation, students discover natural connections among disciplines, while deepening their understandings and synthesizing ideas.

Arts infusion builds a community of learners who discover ways to work purposely and productively in groups. Arts infusion builds creativity and problem-solving skills where students learn to think “out of the box”. The arts provide multiple modes for students to create, which is the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, a multilayered model of classifying thinking according to levels of complexity.

 Our Motto:

• Excellence is Expected and is Our Standard.

 Our Mission:

• Pine Street School, in partnership with home and community, is committed to excellence by providing a learning environment that will establish a foundation to prepare students to live and work in a rapidly changing world.

Our Beliefs:

• All students should be provided educational opportunities that maximize their learning potential.

• Family and community involvement strengthens student performance.

• A safe and supportive school environment promotes learning.

• Student learning is extended through the school’s commitment to innovative techniques, technology, enhancement, and the continuous growth and improvement of faculty, staff and students.

• Quality, relevant and ongoing staff development enhances teacher performance and student progress.

• A well rounded curriculum emphasizes the prerequisite knowledge and skills needed for student success at each grade level and across subject areas.