Dear Parents/Guardians,

Wingate Elementary is a wonderful school. Our staff works extremely hard on building a positive culture with a focus on ensuring all stakeholders are heard, seen, and valued. We want to develop learners who model the characteristics of Union County's "Portrait of a Graduate."  By cultivating the curiosity of our learners and encouraging their flexibility as thinkers, we saw enormous growth in our students’ confidence and problem-solving skills. 

We are a Title 1 school, meaning a large number of our population receive free or reduced lunch.  As a result of that, we receive Title 1 funds to aid us in providing a strong instructional program, parent involvement activities, and other programs to  benefit our students. Teachers, teacher assistants, and tutors work all day with children, ensuring that students receive targeted instruction tailored to their needs. We love our students, and we are so proud of our school.

Once a year, we provide you with updates on our school’s achievements through the North Carolina School Report Card.  We provide regular updates to you about your student’s academic progress by sending home weekly communication folders, progress reports, and report cards. 

Please, be mindful that the NC School Report Card is only one way to measure what is happening here at Wingate Elementary.  We have many great initiatives in place to support the whole child. We are appreciative of our parental support and community partnerships.

School grades are based 80% on proficiency rates in 3rd-5th grade reading, math, and science as measured by EOGs.  20% of the grade is based on the amount of growth students have made from the previous year.  I am very pleased to say that our proficiency scores increased from the previous year.  We made huge gains and plan to do the same during the 2024-2025 school year. Teachers are working hard by analyzing assessment data in order to form small groups to target specific skills that students need additional support with throughout the entire school. 

Our student attendance rates improved during the 2023-2024 school year which had a direct impact on proficiency rates. When students are in attendance, they are able to learn more. Staff members are working together to create learning environments that foster student engagement and participation. One of our goals for the 2024-2025 school year will be to reduce the amount of students who are identified as chronically absent (missing 10% or more of instructional days). 

Wingate Elementary is an Ag-Tech school with a school-wide Ag-Tech program.   Students very much enjoy the hands-on activities, experiments, coding & robotics, and gardening.  This year, grade levels will take field trips related to STEM or Ag-Tech. In addition, we will continue to offer family programs on weekends through the Families Engaging and Learning Together program (FELT) .

Wingate Elementary has three focus areas that include Academics, School Culture, and Health/Safety.

To increase our Academics, additional teachers and teacher assistants have been hired to support literacy in small groups across all grades. We are departmentalized in grades 3rd-5th. Goal setting for the whole class and individual students will help track progress and motivate students to reach these goals.

In the area of School Culture, Wingate will continue to grow teacher leaders while supporting our new staff. This will be accomplished  by working with Safe & Civil Schools multiple times throughout the year to learn about classroom management, creating a structured & positive environment, and revising our current expectations for student behavior.

The third focus area will be Health and Safety. Our Student Support Services staff will meet frequently to discuss student needs including attendance, social-emotional needs, and types of support that can be offered. Our Student Support Services team includes counselors, behavior therapists, psychologists, behavior management technicians, social workers, and school based administrators. This team communicates specifically with parents to ensure all children are safe, treated fairly, and continue to feel supported at all times. 

I encourage you to review our Report Card carefully; then, feel free to call the school with any questions or concerns you may have. I also welcome your feedback on any other areas in our school. 

Thank you for supporting our efforts to provide your child with a high-quality education.

https://ncreports.ondemand.sas.com/src/

Sincerely,

Jasmine Stowe