During the 2020-2021 school year, our district has helped all students cultivate the World-Class Life, Career Characteristics, and Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. We ensured that all students developed the credentials necessary to succeed as responsible, productive citizens by providing excellent opportunities in academics, athletics, and the arts. World-Class Knowledge was evident district-wide with curriculum that was taught in new and exciting ways due to the nature of the school year in the pandemic. Our school district also developed life and career characteristics through our dedication to the AVID program for all students. The work of Cherokee County School District will always be anchored in the ideal that every student graduating our school system does so college and career ready.
Our district enriched students’ opportunities for World Class Skills and World Class Knowledge with grant funding used to implement Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID). AVID is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap by preparing all students for college and postsecondary opportunities. Students enrolled in the program received, at minimum, one block of AVID strategies and daily tutoring. Additionally, core teachers incorporated AVID strategies in their daily instruction. Achievement test data indicated that the program continued to be successful for student learning. Implementation of the program included students in grades six through twelve. 2019-2020 saw the graduation of our first AVID cohort. 2020-2021 will see the addition of students from each of our elementary schools in the AVID program. Many of our teachers are AVID-trained, and they are facilitating the fidelity of program implementation across our district.
Cherokee County School District is a Transform SC district. Districts in the Transform network “commit to creating a culture of innovation and implementing a combination of innovative practices to transform learning and teaching for every student and every teacher in every classroom every day.” We are a fully 1:1 technology district. Our initiative began at the high school level in August 2015, and students in all three middle schools received laptops in August 2016. We accelerated our timeline for students in grades three through five at each of the district’s elementary schools, and those students received their devices in February 2017; 5K through second grade students received classroom device sets in August 2017, thus completing our 1:1 initiative. During the 2020-2021 school year, all of our high school and middle school students received Chrome Books. This was especially important as we transitioned to virtual and hybrid instruction during much of the 2020-2021 school year amid the global pandemic.
Evidence continues to indicate that World-Class Skills and Knowledge are growing throughout the Cherokee County School District. Our Early Childhood program is fully implemented in 3K and 4K programs throughout our schools. We had a record number of students qualify for our Gifted and Talented program in our elementary schools. Our school district successfully implemented offerings of more high school credits to our middle school students. We celebrated the start of the Cherokee County Scholar's Academy at Limestone College and the Early College at Spartanburg Community College, Cherokee Campus. Our middle schools also celebrated a record number of Junior Scholar students. The graduating classes of 2021 earned over eighteen million dollars in scholarships, which included Palmetto Fellows and Life Scholarship recipients. Instruction that focused on collaboration, research, and technology continued to be found in all classrooms.
The Institute of Innovation made a definitive impact on teaching and learning in our community. Enrollment for career and technology education has enabled us to offer different offerings based on student's career clusters found through their IGP meetings. Community partnerships continued to be a vital part of our district’s success. Mary Black Health System-Gaffney continued to support our Teacher of the Month program and contributed funds to the State Teacher of the Year program. They also continued to be instrumental in the success of our district’s annual health fair. Our local Rotary Club provided shoes for children throughout the community through their Happy Feet initiative, and Broad River Electric Cooperative provided 3,000 book bags for students. Local law enforcement agencies provided school supplies as well.
We appreciate the effort, assistance, and support from all staff and the community in making 2020-2021 a very successful school year despite the challenges that we were faced. During these unprecedented times, our community came together to ensure that the needs of everyone were met. The school's theme of "Together, we can" was echoed in every building this year as our students and educators worked hard to ensure our students received exemplary instruction. Cherokee County School District is committed to achieving our mission by setting high expectations, transforming instructional practices, and being accountable as we prepare today’s students to become tomorrow’s leaders.
Dr. Dana Fall, Superintendent
