Barnwell School District 45 is committed to preparing students for lifelong success by promoting individualized learning experiences. The core values that drive us each day are Innovation, Integrity, Investment, and Community. As a district, we value continuous improvement and we believe that education is a shared responsibility of the student, the school, the home, and the community. Barnwell School District 45 views the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate as a shared vision of the knowledge, skills, and characteristics needed for our students to be successful in their future pathways, whether that be college or career.
Barnwell School District 45 values continuous improvement, and the district works diligently to ensure all the schools, and the system as a whole, are moving toward accomplishing our shared vision. As part of the district’s cyclical review process, the district convenes a Vision and Mission Team with the purpose of working on the revision of the current vision and mission statements with all district stakeholder groups. The district’s new vision statement “Where hearts are big and opportunities are great” reflects the values and beliefs of our school district, resulting from the dedication and commitment of the staff who put their heart into the work they do every day in the district. The district’s stakeholders worked with staff to create this vision statement in an effort to inspire and challenge our staff, students, families, and community to not only put their hearts into the work the district does, but also to seek to provide the district’s students with increased opportunities academically, athletically, artistically, and socially.
Barnwell School District 45’s new mission statement reflects the district’s actions. As a district that seeks innovation, we are committed to preparing our students for college and career by engaging them in personalized opportunities in academics, athletics, the arts, and individual exploration through:
- providing a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment
- empowering our students, staff, and community to build purposeful, positive relationships
- embracing our students’ curiosities and interests as they write their own stories
- developing a foundation for lifelong learning built upon integrity, perseverance, fairness, respect, and pride
- encouraging our families in all aspects of educating our children
Our district is committed to ensuring all students have the individualized learning experiences they need to be successful in life. The district community, including staff, students, parents, and community members, is committed to equipping our students with the knowledge, skills, and character to succeed in a changing world. The district seeks to develop student responsibility, self-confidence, ingenuity, passion, and strong academic and social skills for lifelong learning. The district expects all students to demonstrate continuous improvement on all performance indicators in all core academic areas, asking the schools to provide an aligned curriculum that addresses important academic content and utilizes instructional strategies that reflect best practices to engage students in the learning process.
Barnwell School District 45 was recently recommended for Cognia accreditation based upon findings of an External Review Team (ERT) who evaluated the district in November of 2021. Barnwell School District 45 was proud to significantly exceed that average IEQ range for Cognia accreditation. The district rated at the highest possible level in over half of the performance standards covered across the three domains of Leadership Capacity, Learning Capacity, and Resource Capacity. According to the final report, Cognia evaluators concluded, “The district has effectively developed and communicated a mission and vision that drives all aspects of the organization, provides the foundation for strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, as well as operational and instructional practices promoting continuous improvement.”
Barnwell School District 45 continues to work diligently to address the impact COVID-19 has had on the academic progress of our students. While the 2020-2021 school year provided challenges, the district faced even greater challenges during the 2021-2022 school year battling increased cases of COVID-19, quarantines, and isolations throughout the school year. The district’s Academic Recovery Plan addresses multiple strategies and action steps for addressing the impact COVID-19 has had on academics. Within these plans a focus has been placed on providing expanded summer learning opportunities for students in preschool through grade 8. Additionally, targeted intervention plans have been implemented utilizing multiple sources of assessment data aligned to the state standards and district MTSS frameworks, as well as the needs of individual students, and are supported with staff specifically focused on providing interventions.
As a district, we continue to thank our stakeholders and the Barnwell 45 Family for their continued support of our schools. We feel our people are our greatest resources, and this includes not only our students but also our staff, our families, and our community members. We are grateful to live in a community that wraps their arms around our schools and partners with us to help our students be successful and grow academically, emotionally, and socially. Our district takes very seriously our responsibility to prepare our students for their future, and we continually seek ways to provide increased opportunities for the students in Barnwell School District 45. Working together with our stakeholders, our community, and our families, we take great pride in assisting our students as they grow and develop into our future South Carolina graduates and leaders.
