Dear students, parents and community members:

Beaufort County School District (BCSD) is committed to supporting our educators. The salary for BCSD starting teachers is now $45,566 in comparison to $37,928. Coupled with additional supplements, the total compensation package for starting teachers is now $50,066– making BCSD one of the top-paying districts for educators in the state of SC.

With determination Beaufort County School District embarked on academic recovery efforts in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on student achievement during the 2021-22 academic year. This is a challenge that districts across the state and nation faced and that BCSD continue to address by aligning resources to students’ instructional needs. 

• Eighty-eight percent of 2022 graduates were college and career ready. District graduates received over $48.8 million in scholarships this year.
   
• Every fall, the AP Program recognizes high school students who have demonstrated outstanding college-level achievement through their performance on multiple AP Exams. The District’s AP scholar awards for 2021-22 increased from 286 in 2020 to 393 for 2022, an increase of 20.2 percent.

• Bluffton High School, Hilton Head Island High School, and May River High School are ranked in South Carolina’s Top 35 by U.S. News and World Report magazine, and all six district high schools are ranked in the state’s top half.

• Three more elementary schools were authorized to offer students Leader in Me programming by Franklin Covey Education based on the quality of the school’s student leadership programming modeled after the best-selling book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” H.E. McCracken Middle School is offering this programming for the 2022-23 school year.

• The Cambridge International Secondary Program, part of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, is offered for students ages 11 to 19. Battery Creek High School will be kicking off their third year of the curriculum this fall. May River High School and Robert Smalls International Academy kicked off their first year of providing students with prestigious international academic programming that prepares them for the rigor of college.
• May River High School was selected to implement the Air Force National Junior Reserve Officer Training Program in 2023-24 from a nation-wide group of schools who requested the honor.
• Bluffton High achieved the highest graduation rate in Beaufort County School District history under the 4-year graduation cohort model and continues to increase the number of Advanced Placement courses, while also expanding in CTE course offerings in an effort to ensure every student graduates college and career ready with the skills needed for success in an everchanging society.
• Hilton Head Island High School kicked off their E-Sports program and is coordinating with Hilton Head Island Middle School to reinvigorate the Arts post-pandemic, especially in band and chorus programming. They additionally offered professional development to enhance differentiated instruction strategies for multilingual learners and special education students, as well as tutoring opportunities in the community.
• H.E. McCracken Middle School’s Multi-Lingual Learner Program (MLP)included students from four continents in all academic settings, to include general education, gifted education, and special education. The school also worked closely with the Bluffton Library to encourage students’ literacy development in the community after hours.
• Last year, our district was awarded a $12.8 million Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP) grant funded by the US Department of Education, to be distributed over five years. The grant project, named Med-Tech 7 will implement evidence-based, whole school arts integrated programming through Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) curricula. Over 100 students attended the first-ever Med-Tech 7 STEAM Summer Camp in summer of 2022. Additionally, the Med-Tech 7 team also received a $150,000 GenCyber grant, funded by the National Security Agency (NSA) and National Science Foundation (NSF).

• Mossy Oaks and Whale Branch Elementary schools were awarded a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) grant to cover teacher training to launch this program that provides engaging and hands-on learning experiences for Med-Tech 7 students at these schools.

• The District continued significant dual enrollment at Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) and the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) to include summer courses.
• District school counselors received trauma informed training to recognize signs of distress and utilize various techniques in support of student needs. Additionally, they participated in a Licensed Professional Counseling cohort (LPC) enabling them to provide mental health care support to students. They continue to collaborate with, and refer families to, district community partners.
• As per the BCSD Board of Education, the Profile of the Beaufort County Graduate was developed to engage our students in an understanding of the special characteristics of the Lowcountry in alignment to the South Carolina Department of Education standards, to include Global Citizenship, Historical Knowledge, Financial Literacy, and Eco Literacy.
• BCSD commenced extended learning partnerships with our community partners, serving over 200 students in numerous locations, and the program is growing.  
• Thirty individuals presented at the district’s inaugural African American History Education Conference. The presenters represented all ages and backgrounds—from a Whale Branch Early College High student who graduated from TCL with a double associate degree, to locally and nationally celebrated artists, educators, and authors, to pastors, Gullah descendants, and historians, to renowned chefs, organic farmer/restaurateurs, and, life-long Beaufort community leaders, all of who collaborated, shared and celebrated Beaufort’s rich and diverse history with over 300 attendees.
• Over 1000 educators and support staff registered for this year’s Summer Institute professional development event organized by the district.  More than 200 sessions were offered to attendees over the course of three days. 

The determination we’ve seen from our students, parents, employees, and community members gives me confidence that together, we can further continue to accelerate academic recovery efforts.

Frank Rodriguez, Ph.D., Superintendent