Sewanee Elementary School
Mike Maxon, Principal
Sewanee Elementary
209 University Ave
Sewanee, TN 37375
Recipe for Success:
Sewanee Elementary is a community school that embraces parental and community involvement. Our wonderfully creative and enthusiastic staff believe in preparing every child not only academically for the next step in their education but also socially, emotionally, and physically. To this end, Sewanee believes in teaching across the curriculum and teaching outside the four walls.
At SES the arts are an integral part in the education of the whole child. Throughout the school year, every grade is involved in a musical skit in which they not only are learning acting and music, but also, history, culture and public speaking. Each year several of our students perform with the county s Honor Chorus. With support from our PTO, the Nashville Opera annually visits. Later this year the sixth graders will perform Fiddler on the Roof .
Each year during American Education Week our students dress as their favorite character or author to encourage and share the love and joy of reading. We have an annual staff that is student oriented. Our weekly assemblies offer a time to sing together, recognize students and their accomplishments and to welcome special guests.
At SES science does not begin and end in a textbook. Our Science Fair is unique to this area. We have a nature trail that ties in nicely with our studies of the environment. SES participates in National Geographic s Geography Bee and we have a sixth grade math team that participates in math competitions. They also take an annual trip to Tremont, an environmental center in the Smokies.
A great example of intertwining the arts, the traditional curriculum and teaching outside the four walls is Friday School. Now in its thirtieth year, Friday School welcomes volunteers from Cowan to Monteagle to come together to share their talents and areas of expertise with the students. Spread out over four Friday afternoons, the students have the opportunity to take classes such as ecology, Spanish, gardening, nature hiking, arts & crafts, and tennis. The students would rather have Friday School than a snow day!
Also, the students and parents are encouraged to participate in the internationally recognized Walk to School Day. We are proud of our outstanding athletes who compete in the nationally recognized Pepsi Punt, Pass and Kick competition and our champion girls basketball team. We are pleased by our students victories but, more importantly, we are proud that both the boys and girls teams play with heart, desire and good sportsmanship
Volunteers are an important resource in all that we accomplish. On any given day throughout the school year, an extraordinary group of parents, retirees, college students and community volunteers can be found working with students, reading in small groups, teaching creative writing, or helping our students to appreciate the environment that surrounds our school.
At SES we are proud to be a school with a family atmosphere, where everyone pulls together for a common good, the education of our children.