River Bluff High School is helping all students develop the World-Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by incorporating a teaching and learning model that emphasizes critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. As an EL Education Credentialed School, RBHS students are engaged in a curriculum that challenges them to develop as effective learners and ethical people who are empowered with the skills and desire to contribute to a better world. RBHS students learn and grow what we define as Habits of Success over their four years as learners on our campus. Our Habits of Success include collaboration, excellence, growth mindset, citizenship and personal responsibility. The teaching and learning experiences our students are exposed to target skill development aligned with our Habits of Success, and engage students in real-world, authentic experiences that challenge them to think critically about relevant issues and collaborate to create meaningful products. Further, our flexible modular schedule provides students with independent learning time in their day in which students are not in a scheduled class, and have to learn to manage their time and communicate with adults while also being held to high expectations of quality work production.
The 2021–22 school year presented an opportunity to reinstate learning initiatives that were put on hold or not fully experienced during the pandemic over the past two years. Our students were able to reengage with externships and fieldwork experiences that foster real-world connections and allow students to practice core communication skills with community professionals. We were also able to reinstate learning expeditions which are interdisciplinary learning experiences that target critical thinking skills and collaborative, solutions-based thinking. Biology 1 Honors students partnered with English 2 Honors students to investigate and create podcasts; looking into historical research, forensic and DNA evidence, and creative writing aspects to answer the compelling question, “What makes a murderer?” In our U.S. history and third-year English courses, students engaged in an exploration of marginalized groups by researching local history through a partnership with experts and fieldwork experiences to develop podcasts and historical plaques to live on these sites around Lexington County, educating the citizens of Lexington about their past and the impact marginalized groups had on the greater Lexington area. Further, senior CREWs collaborated to create a “for students, by students” professional conference grounded in presentations by each CREW on local social justice issues in which each CREW developed an impact project to improve our community through acts of service, change action initiatives and educational initiatives.
RBHS students are excellent communicators whose skills are harnessed through intentional opportunities to speak to other students and to adults about topics that matter. Students have space to communicate their strengths and weaknesses in their daily learning within classes and as part of systemic curriculum structures. All students collect evidence of their demonstration of each of the Habits of Success and use that evidence to reflect on their mastery of each habit. They then collaborate with their peers to create presentations and practice communication before engaging in conversation with teachers, families and other adults in the building. Students receive feedback on their reflections and communication skills from their teachers and community members in various opportunities to engage in these types of conversations. A shift this year in the way we rate and assess students through these self-reflection conversations expanded the depth and authenticity of student voice and reflection as they collect evidence throughout their day at school and also as people in their daily lives beyond the school building. As a result of these changes and years of emphasis on the importance of Habits of Success, our students are self-advocates who can speak to their strengths, weaknesses and goals for improvement as effective learners and ethical people.
RBHS students are high-functioning collaborators. Our school design and curriculum structures foster collaboration and allow students to share their voices and skills as they work alongside others in the pursuit of academic excellence. As an EL Education school, instructional practices at RBHS incorporate protocols and collaborative structures for daily learning that eliminate teacher-driven lessons and instead engage students in opportunities to develop inquiry questions, research together and produce solutions as a group. Our staff also models this practice in their own professional learning. Teachers are engaged in faculty cohorts that are structured in an interdisciplinary format. These professional learning communities provide space for staff to also practice collaboration and critical thinking as they work together to create innovative solutions and instructional strategies to support the achievement of all students in their classrooms. This year, for example, faculty cohorts worked together to generate strategies for supporting student growth in their Habits of Success in alignment with our new rating and assessment process. Teachers worked through trial-and-error and feedback cycles with their peers around new strategies they developed and implemented throughout their professional learning cycle. Our students and staff are able to work closely together to consistently push the mold for what is possible in our highly innovative school. We are family and we are stronger together at RBHS.
We are confident our students embody the skills outlined in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. Despite experiencing three years of COVID-19-related school shifts and challenges, our students continue to excel and outperform our expectations as leaders of their own learning.
Jacob Smith, Principal
Barry Raines, SIC Co-Chair
Ryan Poles, SIC Co-Chair
