McKendree Elementary School
Principal: Courtney Bernardo
1600 Riverside Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30043
School Highlights
The following school highlights showcase how McKendree Elementary School is fulfilling Gwinnett County Public School's four strategic priorities of Empathy, Equity, Effectiveness, and Excellence. Visit the School Profile Dashboard to find more detailed data on our school.
- At McKendree Elementary, we take pride in our 'Eagle Time' program, where all students are engaged in individualized instruction. This program, designed to meet their unique needs for enrichment or remediation, is a testament to our commitment to each student's academic journey. It's a time for our students to soar, receiving specialized instruction tailored to their specific needs, in addition to the daily instruction in other content areas.
- At McKendree Elementary, we are dedicated to providing Early Learning opportunities that significantly contribute to Kindergarten Readiness in our community. This year, our 'Play 2 Learn' program, designed for students aged from birth to 5, has made a profound impact. For 90 minutes each week, children and adult caregivers from their families learn together through engaging lesson plans in a high-quality preschool environment, setting a strong foundation for their future academic success.
- McKendree Elementary was recognized for its Early Learning programs and visited by the National Superintendent Association (AASA) as part of the Learning 2025 initiative. During our visit, we shared how our early learning programs, such as Play 2 Learn, Guided Play Space, and Joyful, support early literacy skills, including speaking and listening skills.
- All students at McKendree Elementary School have the opportunity to take a Computer Science and S.T.E.M. special. In these classes, they learn the building blocks of how computers work, computer programming, robotics, and math/science content connections, laying the foundation for further coursework that they will be able to take in middle school.
- The Georgia Department of Education recognized McKendree Elementary School as operational for implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) last school year. PBIS encourages positive behaviors with recognition for students who exhibit appropriate school conduct.
- McKendree Elementary offers various clubs to extend our students' learning opportunities. This year, they were able to offer the following clubs: Band, 4-5 Girls on the Run, 4-5 Robotics, 3-4 Discovery Legos, K-1 Coding, K-5 Kindness Club, Reader’s Rally, and Eagle Step Team.
- McKendree Elementary continues to focus on providing several supportive community programs designed to build a strong sense of community for our students. These instructional strategies include the implementation of Joyful learning across all grade levels. Joyful learning allows students and teachers to interact through PURPOSEFUL PLAY during morning arrival: joyful learning fosters collaboration, language development, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Morning meetings are a massive part of our school culture. These morning meetings allow the class to engage in greeting, sharing, and group activities that support building a sense of community before students move into content learning. We have also added a peer mentoring program called “For The Hill” in partnership with Collins Hill High School. Students are partnered to have positive role models who engage in weekly peer mentoring conversations.
- McKendree is committed to community engagement programs to ensure inclusiveness and awareness of school initiatives. These programs/communication methods include but are not limited to, ALL Pro Dads, Monthly Newsletters, Principal Town Hall meetings, Stem Nights, Multicultural events, Family fun nights, and Positive Parenting Workshops.