Buford High School, home of the Yellow Jackets, works to create an environment that builds world-class knowledge, skills, and character in all of our students. We believe that it is our charge to provide students with a variety of experiences that allow for them to grow in these areas. This comes as a result of being exposed to high quality opportunities in the areas of academics, athletics, fine arts, and a variety of extracurricular/co-curricular opportunities. At Buford High School, character is equally as important as one’s academic, athletic, and artistic pursuits. Therefore, we instill Jacket P.R.I.D.E. in each of our students. P.R.I.D.E. represents our five core values: Personal Responsibility, Respect, Integrity, Dedication, and Excellence. It is through these collective efforts that we hope to build “The Ideal Buford Graduate,” one that is equipped with the knowledge, skills, and character necessary to be successful in life beyond the walls of BHS. This aligns with our district’s “Putting Our Children First” vision, which is at the forefront of all that we do.
During the 2020-2021 school year, Burford High School served 582 students between grades 9-12, with 47 percent identifying as female and 53 percent identifying as male. Approximately 58% percent of our faculty held advanced degrees, while the student to teacher ratio was 14:1. In an effort to build world-class knowledge in each of our students, our school provided students with the appropriate level of rigor in each of their courses. We offered three Advanced Placement classes on campus and 29 dual-credit opportunities through the University of South Carolina-Lancaster, our local university. In addition, we have 10 Career and Technology Pathways offered to our students in 7 different clusters. Within each of our classrooms, we seek to build world-class skills in our students as well. Our STEAM initiative, now in its fourth year, assisted our staff with building and supporting our students’ ability to think critically, communicate, collaborate, and create across the curriculums that were taught within the school. In addition, our efforts with “Blended Learning” have reaped huge dividends when it comes to student achievement and growth in the set of skills that are necessary to be successful in the world of work.
The BHS staff continued its efforts to institute a Differentiated Professional Development model. This model was built upon the ability of teachers to choose the types of professional development they needed based upon an assessment of their individual professional needs. Teachers were also given the opportunity to lead sessions that highlighted their strengths, expertise, and leadership ability. This model has proven to be effective in meeting the needs of our staff and their ability to deliver high- quality instruction that will positively impact the academic achievement and engagement level of our students. At this point, our entire staff has taken part in the “Blended Learning in Action” book study. This group has researched, collaborated around, and implemented a variety of innovative and traditional approaches to teaching in each of their classrooms. We are proud of the work that this group has done and how it has impacted the engagement and achievement levels of our students.
Our students achieved excellence in academics, athletics, and arts. In the 2020-2021 school year, 59% of Buford High School students received a Ready to Work certificate on either a platinum, gold, silver, or bronze level. Members of our 2021 graduating class (108 students) were offered $2,600,000 in scholarships to various post-secondary institutions. Post-secondary plans for the graduating class include: 18% planning to attend a 4-year school, 37% planning to attend a 2-year school, 17% planning to attend a technical or trade school, 1% planning to join the armed force, and 22% planning to join the work force.
As stated above, we have worked hard to create a sense of focus on developing life and career characteristics in all of our students. It is for this reason that we have created our school motto, “Can’t Hide That Jacket P.R.I.D.E.” As a result of this effort, we have worked hard to teach, model, and reinforce our five core values on a consistent basis. Our art students have continued to find ways to incorporate Jacket P.R.I.D.E. into the artwork, murals, and other creative projects around campus. We also held Jacket P.R.I.D.E. celebrations to recognize all students that embodied these values on a consistent basis.
Buford High School provides a diverse offering of student-led service organizations. This list includes the National Honor Society, National Beta Club, Educators Rising, JROTC, and the Future Farmers of America. Each group provides students with the opportunity to lead while positively impacting our community on the local, regional, national, and international levels.
We are very proud of the great things that our students, staff, and community have accomplished here at Buford High School. The work that has taken place both inside and outside the classroom continues to make us proud. It is further proof that we just “Can’t Hide That Jacket P.R.I.D.E.”
