A new initiative at E.B. Ellington Elementary in Ravenel is helping students build character and leadership skills. The school is creating engaged learners, who take ownership of their learning. We head to Ravenel for our first Cool School for the 2024-2025 school year. Whose house? E.B. Ellington's house! E.B. Ellington is a rural Title-One School in Ravenel with 365 students in Head Start through Fifth grade. Students pushed to create a culture of belonging, so principal James Dallas says they created a House system, a model adopted from the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. "The House System is all about making sure every student can connect with a trusted adult in the building, so if they are having a very difficult situation, there is an adult who can help them navigate that," says Dallas. There are four houses: Isibindi - House of Courage;  Altruismo - House of Givers;  Reveur - House of Dreamers; Amistad - House of Friendship.  Principal Dallas says, "The way they enter the house, get into the house, we have a wheel. They all spin the wheel. I say to them all, you don't choose a house, the house chooses you, so every student in the building had the opportunity in the beginning of the year to spin that wheel, and wherever that landed, that's the house they ended up in. The model lives and breathes in the building every day. We get together as Houses on early release days and half days. We want to make sure that we are maximizing instructional time. Our report cards are not where we want it to be, but we know if we continue to focus on academics and keep giving these students the academic knowledge they need, we will continue to move the needle. Early in the year, we have seen tremendous success. Referrals are down. Students have an adult in the building. They mentor those students, and they connect with them daily, if they are having issues. Students love coming to school, typically on a day like this about a third of our students are not in the building on half days, but knowing it's House Day today, knowing it's about celebration and creating that culture of belonging, the majority of them are here which is a beautiful thing." The House System is also an incentive program supported by a point system. Dallas says, "Day to day, we have a House Points app. The purpose of the House Points app is for teachers. There are six or seven categories of students showing great character, students showing academic leadership, students showing school spirit, those kinds of things we are looking for students who demonstrate that on a day-to-day basis." Teachers and students say the House System helps build character and leadership on the path to improving academics. Teacher Sydney Boaz says, "One thing I really see especially at the Fifth-grade level, I've been working hard helping students find their voice in a leadership role. We talked about what it looks like to be a quiet leader, what it looks like to be a leader of a House, how we can take those characteristics and apply them to our academics as well. I absolutely love E.B. Ellington. I think the one thing that makes it cool is the difference and culture we have here.  Every student knows each other, kind of like a big family, that's kind of why we are leaning on Ron Clark Academy so much. We knew we had something special, and now we have a way to put a name on it." Empowering students to take ownership of their learning, focus on building and developing key character traits, and learn what it means to be part of a team. Fifth-grade student Landyn Hamilton says, "It helps everybody. It helps everybody keep focus, helps everybody get their school work done, and get good grades. It helps everybody feel welcome. This is the best school. It has a good community."  Fifth-grade student Mia Hernandez says, "The House program here at Ellington makes students feel like they belong. We meet new students they probably didn't know about. It has helped me by connecting to other people and knowing more about other people." E.B. Ellington is also a partial magnet school, offering an advanced studies program for students.  Principal James Dallas says, "If they feel connected, and they are celebrated, then they will begin to put forth that academic effort that we know they are capable of, and I think the other piece of that too, as a school is beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic. It's developing good citizens, and we want our students to have the knowledge, and skills, and dispositions, and attitude, and competencies to go out into their community and do great work in the community. The most important reason we're a Cool School is because we have cool kids. We have Cool kids who love being here, and when they show up, they give us every ounce of their energy their effort." E.B. Ellington has a partnership with Charleston Stage, which provides year-long arts-integration programs to all students, with in-school workshops, after-school drama classes, live theatrical experiences at Dock Street Theatre, and school-based performance opportunities. If you would like to nominate a Cool School or educator, send an email to Octavia Mitchell at [email protected].