A Message from the Principal,
Greetings Forest Heights Families, 
Forest Heights Elementary School is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by consistently providing a safe, engaging, loving, compassionate, and rigorous learning environment. We are able to do this by ensuring that every decision is made by doing what is best for our students. Our goal and daily commitment is always to put students first, as we embrace the district’s vision of engaging, educating, and empowering students! Forest Height’s faculty and staff are dedicated to challenging students to be their best each and every day they enter the building through best practice implementation throughout the whole school. As a school, we have embraced the growth mindset and have set out on a mission to ensure our students excel in everything they put their hands and minds to do. We have so much to offer students to make certain they are successful. We have a 3-hour, uninterrupted, block of reading instruction to start their day. This provides teachers with the time to build all students’ literacy foundations through Balanced Literacy. Forest Heights uses class meetings for advocacy in the morning, maximizes instructional time, limits distractions, and focuses on each student as an individual. We also have an incredible math focus, with over seventy-five minutes of math being taught on a daily basis. This includes whole groups, small groups, and spiraling math workstations. Our students have great advantages and opportunities in technology because we are one-to-one with our devices. This will help prepare them to be successful in our technologically advanced society. Forest Heights offers strings and musical programs that appeal to many of our students. We also offer art and students compete in district-wide competitions and often receive accolades and recognition at the district level. Our goal is to provide our students with experiences that reach beyond the literacy and mathematical focus. Our school is also involved in science projects and has a science lab to promote innovation and inquiry skills. Our goal is to create students that can collaborate and communicate with their peers to think deeply and think critically to solve problems. Forest Heights is also a PBIS School. We believe in focusing on the positive and giving little attention to anything negative. Our school-wide PBIS program has greatly influenced our climate and culture while having a hugely positive impact on behavior throughout the school. Forest Heights Elementary School is a growing and thriving school within the Richland One School District in Columbia, South Carolina. Our focus is to always maintain a growth mindset and ensure that we are reaching every student, while also reaching the WHOLE student! Forest Heights serves a wonderful community of parents, families, and students that have a desire to be the absolute best at all times. We are consistently producing students that will be productive and exemplary citizens of Richland County and South Carolina.
Educationally Yours,
Mr. Jason Koepke, Principal
