“Sailing Beyond Excellence,” our school motto, reflects the dedication of our learning community and depicts the beautiful setting in which we reside. Our school, established in 2002, is located in Northeast Columbia within two large planned communities. We opened with approximately 350 students and have grown to an enrollment of 1,046. The needs, backgrounds, and cultures of our community are quite diverse; our families speak 15 different languages other than English. 

Our school’s mission embodies the desires and goals of its citizens:  “The faculty and staff of our school, in collaboration with the community, will promote a safe, caring and respectful educational environment for all students through the use of innovative teaching strategies and character education to create successful, life-long learners, as we sail beyond excellence.”

Lake Carolina Elementary
 (This video is a Windows Media Player file.)

Integrated Thematic Instruction, ITI, serves as our instructional model. Classroom furniture is arranged in learning clubs to facilitate cooperative learning, peer tutoring, and a non-threatening instructional setting.  Purposeful classroom design includes the use of soft lighting, plants, brain compatible colors, and content-rich displays to meet the needs of the whole child.  Movement strategies include milling to music, fold the line, clock appointments, huddles, graffiti, four corners, quiz/quiz/trade as well as a variety of brain gyms used to energize and refocus students for learning. In grades K-5, students are grouped in heterogeneous classes, with 5^th grade being the only departmentalized grade level.

Integrated Thematic Instruction is a model based on understanding how the brain learns best.  The goal of using this model is to grow responsible citizens through the following elements:

1.  Developing a positive relationship between the student and teacher

2. Stimulating and awakening the brain with specific instructional strategies

2. 3.  Developing curriculum that makes learning come alive