Mrs. Dowdy

Greetings, Elon Park Elementary families,

Welcome to Elon Park Elementary School, home of the Eagles! We are a large elementary school located in the far southern part of Charlotte. Our school opened in 2007 as part of the efforts to relieve overcrowding to surrounding elementary schools.

At Elon Park Elementary, staff, students, families and community members collaborate to provide an extraordinary learning environment where all reach their potential, enrich their individual talents and exhibit school pride at ALL times, in EVERYTHING they do.

We believe in creating an inclusive and nurturing school community. We have a diverse student population. 43% of our students are Caucasian, 38% Asian, 8% Hispanic, and 9% African American. As we welcome families into the community, our ESL population continues to grow with 11% of our students receiving services from our two full time ESL teachers. We have two full time Talent Development teachers who concentrate their energy on supporting teachers in implementing strategies to support gifted instruction, in which 30% of our students are certified. We also have two full time EC teachers to support our students with disabilities and two full time literacy facilitators who support all classrooms Kindergarten through fifth grade to ensure our instruction is of the highest quality, engaging and relevant to our children.

At our school, we focus on creating engaging, student centered classrooms. We are a Personalized Digital Learning school with a focus on learner environment, creating strong classroom communities with a focus on the traits students need to be successful in the classroom and beyond. Our school participates in Paideia seminars to support our development as speakers, listeners and critical thinkers. All of our classrooms also use Thinking Maps which help us make thinking visual and build connections across all areas of our school.

I invite you to participate in our school community. We have an active PTO who work alongside our staff to make our school a fun and inviting place to be every day. Please remember to register as a CMS volunteer. All volunteers must register each year and select Elon Park Elementary as the site. Please also remember to bring your ID to sign in upon entering the school as we are working diligently to keep our school safe.

Finally, I would like to tell you a little bit about me. I am a CMS graduate and attended Appalachian State University where I received my Bachelors in Elementary Education. I hold a master’s degree from Winthrop University in

educational leadership. Before coming to Elon Park Elementary in the January 2017 school, I was AP at Beverly Woods Elementary for five years and Literacy Facilitator at Endhaven Elementary for six years.

On a personal level, my husband and I are the parents of eight-year-old boy/girl twins, who are in third grade at Elon Park. I am active with my family - soccer, dance, riding bikes, kayaking and paddle boarding in the summer. I can often be found at the Morrison Y at 5 am or running down Rea Road on a sunny day!

As a principal, a parent and a person, I am committed to providing the best education possible to each of our students. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at 980-343-1440 or kelly.dowdy@cms.k12.nc.us. I look forward to working with you to ensure that Elon Park Elementary continues to offer a challenging, effective educational experience in a safe, happy atmosphere. Thank you for choosing CMS.

It’s a Great day to be an Eagle

Kelly Dowdy, Principal