Our district is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by continuing to create a safe and positive learning environment in which all students feel valued and are challenged to reach their highest potential.
Chester County School District (CCSD) strives for all students to be college and career ready, and a key component of that readiness is making academic growth and achievement throughout the year. Our early childhood students in kindergarten and first grade showed reading growth, for example. The number of students flagged for tiered instruction by MAP Fluency dropped from 53% in the fall to 43% in the spring. Our kindergarten and first grade students made gains on the MAP math assessment, as well, with both grade levels showing over 10% growth from fall to spring. There were notable gains for elementary and middle school students on SC Ready in ELA and math for Spring 2022. All elementary school achievement increased. ELA increased from 27.8% to 38% scoring meets or exceeds for elementary schools, and math increased from 22% to 38.9% scoring meets or exceeds. ELA performance on SC Ready increased at all middle schools, which resulted in the district overall percentage of students scoring meets or exceeds increasing from 27.8% in 2021 to 33.3% in 2022. Additionally, the district average for the four-year cohort graduation rate increased from 79.6% in 2021 to 81.4% in 2022.
School report card results improved in important areas, as well. When comparing the 2021-2022 results to the 2018-2019 results, 61.5% of Chester County Schools improved their overall rating and/or increased the number of points earned overall. In addition to the majority of schools improving in their overall ratings, there were gains in specific indicators. For the Academic Achievement indicator, 90% of our elementary and middle schools increased points earned from 2019 to 2022. For the Student Progress indicator, 90% of our elementary and middle schools increased points earned from 2019 to 2022. For the Graduation Rate indicator, we had a 66% increase, and we had a 66% increase for the College and Career Ready indicator.
CCSD also celebrated Great Falls Elementary, Chester Middle, and Great Falls High School (middle grades) being removed from the school improvement designations lists. The hard work of the staff, students and families paid off!
The Chester Country Career Center (CCCC) had another successful year. Accomplishments included the following: students earned 255 certifications, 76 students were completers, 48 completers earned certifications which identified them as Career Ready, and three students were double-completers. Career areas for completers included, for example, automotive technology, cosmetology, culinary arts, graphic communications, health science, and welding. Post-program placement for our CCCC students was 98.1%.
Our CCSD students earn dual credit through our partnerships with USC-Lancaster, Winthrop University, and York Technical College. With York Tech, students continued in the Early College, linemen workers, and welding programs. Additionally, CCSD high school seniors were awarded associate degrees and University Studies certificates for earning college credit in numerous programs.
CCSD students have also had accomplishments in the arts. In the winter, middle school students participated in district auditions for slots to attend the ST-ARTS, students with special talents in the arts, Program at Winthrop University again in June 2023. We held the annual District Art Showcase in person for the first time since the pandemic. The showcase included the judging of elementary, middle, and high school visual artwork, along with middle and high school band and chorus performances. The event was well-attended by families and staff. Finally, our three high school band programs performed for various district and community events throughout the year. The Lewisville band program won numerous awards and titles for their ensembles, winter guard, and band overall.
We in CCSD are proud of our athletic programs, as well. The 2023 Lewisville High School softball team finished their season as the state runner-up in Class 1A, and the Great Falls Varsity Boys basketball team advanced to the 1A Upper State Championship.
Selected staff at Chester Park Complex completed two years of intensive training in LETRS, Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling. In the spring, Complex teachers and students were featured in a video from the SCDE and in SC Living Magazine for effective LETRS implementation
It takes a collaborative culture to support student and staff growth. During the 2022-2023 school year, we continued our district and school level implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs). We established PLC teacher leaders who help support collaboration in their schools, grade levels, and/or departments. Plans for district-wide implementation will continue during the 2023-2024 school year. Our goal is to emphasize all departments, Administrative Services, Curriculum and Instruction, Finance, Human Resources, and Operations, functioning as PLCs.
As a district, we know that we still have lots of work to do; however, our results and opportunities for our students are trending in the right direction. We are proud of how our CCSD students, staff, families, and community moving “Forward Together for Student Success,” and we look forward to the great things our district will accomplish in the 2023-2024 school year!
Dr. Antwon Sutton, Superintendent
Mr. Doug Shannon, School Board Chairman
