An overarching goal for DMES is that we will positively impact the lives of those involved with our school. We want children, for instance, to feel safe, happy, and part of a community, and we want for their families to feel a part of that community. These values are affirmed in our vision, mission, and core values.

As with all schools, our primary mandate is to improve students’ academic achievement. As such, we set both individual and whole-school goals that relate to student achievement on iReady and student achievement on SC Ready, our state standardized test.

During the 2021-2022 school year, our academic goals include:

1. Increase Percentage of Students in iReady Tier 1:

Reading Goal: 58% or more in Tier 1

Current Progress: 37% in Tier 1 on Winter iReady (it was 17% Fall, 2022 – already grew 20 percentage points!)

Math Goal: 44% or more in Tier 1

Current Progress: 20% in Tier 1 on Winter iReady  (it was 6% Fall, 2022 – already grew 14 percentage points!)

2. Decrease Percentage of Students in iReady Tier 3:

Reading Goal: 17% or fewer in Tier 3

Current Progress: 24% in Tier 3 on Winter iReady (38% Fall, 2022 – already decreased 14 percentage points!)

Math Goal: 20% or fewer in Tier 3

Current Progress: 22% in Tier 3 on Winter iReady (42% Fall, 2022 – already decreased 20 percentage points!)

3. Improve SC Ready Performance:

ELA Goal: Increase percentage of student scoring Met or above from 23.5% to 27.2% or more.

Math Goal:  Increase percentage of student scoring Met or above from 20.8% to 24.1% or more.