Welcome to the Hive at 145!

The busy bees in our 4K Program are buzzing into new learning opportunities and developing the readiness skills for kindergarten.

I am Tomiko Smalls, a retired-rehired educator and successful product of McCormick County School system. I am VERY excited to be returning home to teach 4K after being away from McCormick Elementary School for over 20 years. I certified as an early childhood educator in 1991 - earning a BA from Clemson University. Previously, I served as a classroom based educator, interventionist, and partner teacher for students in grades K-5 and 9-12. I also completed significant work in helping students to develop reading, language, and communication (oral and written) skills and worked with grade level teachers to co-facilitate best practices in behavior intervention strategies through the implementation of PBIS. 

I am honored to return to the classroom for this year and to gain the reward of touching the lives of children and families in my home community. I look forward to helping our early learners develop their kindergarten readiness skills and to gain the foundation for becoming successful high school graduates.

Joining me on this incredible journey is Marlia Barker. Ms. Barker is a retiree and former trainer from the Department of Corrections. She is also a product of McCormick County School system and a graduate of Lander University - where she earned a BS in Computer Science. Ms. Barker brings to us the unique perspective of creating content with computers. We are fortunate to have her in our classroom and to reap the benefits of her innovative technology talents and skills.

Together, Ms. Barker and I plan to enhance the academic, social-emotional, technology literacy, and personal development of each child that we teach!  Our goal is to meet students at their academic levels and to work with their families to provide individual learning success!

Busy Bee Parent Connections!

• Our Busy Bee Parents are encouraged to join us on ClassDojo for real-time announcements about class activities and happenings in the hive!
• We use Google as the preferred platform for virtual interactions with parents and students. Our family meetings and individual conferences will take place on Google Meet. The online learning space - in case of school closing - is Google Classroom. We will provide you with the links and codes for accessing Google Meet and Google Classroom.
• To see a summary of hive happenings, parent tips, and to catch up on the latest information shared with parents, please check out our weekly Class Newsletters.