2020 Calhoun County Public School’s Narrative: July 9, 2020
District of Calhoun County Public School’s Narrative:
The Focus of Calhoun County School District is always “Teaching and Learning”.
We strive to give our students a quality education that enables them to explore rich professions, after they leave high school. Notably, we have become an eLearning and Transform SC District. These initiatives will keep us focused on providing quality instruction and experiences for our students. We just ended our first year of the Calhoun County Honors Academy. This Career Pathways and Academic Program allows students to enroll in dual credit courses and pursue the Associate of Arts Degree, through Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College.
This past school year we were feeling positive in terms of having a very good year. Students were focused on their studies and competing for honors and awards. Unfortunately, the sudden onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic occurred and we had to quickly prepare for a different approach to “Teaching and Learning”. This threw us all for a loop! As I write this narrative, we have not recovered. Obviously, we turned to remote teaching and learning, which we were blessed that most of our students had the use of district provided technology and others were given detailed, standards-based academic packets. However, the experience could have been much better if we had time to plan for a different approach to learning.
Our attention has turned to making the virtual experience between teachers and students one of quality. The pandemic was something none of us had ever experienced, but we learned some tremendous lessons. As we have had lots of time to think through the experience, we will put those lessons to practice, as we begin the new school year. We have designed schedules that will accommodate for virtual or face-to-face experiences for teachers and students. Teachers will provide virtual instruction from their classrooms, which we believe will enrich the experience. Not knowing when the pandemic will improve we have a hybrid schedule which will allow complete face-to-face instruction or a combination of virtual and face to-face. We will be providing virtual instructional training to the staff before the new school year begins to ensure a smooth transition.
Truly, we are most proud of our stakeholders and will be communicating with them on our plans for the new school year. We are confident that we are ready for a better experience for teachers and students as we continue our “Teaching and Learning” quest, moving forward. We expect to have a very productive 2020-21 school year!
Steve A. Wilson, Superintendent
