During the 2017-2018 school year, Southside High began our journey to ensure that every child will graduate ready for college, careers, and engaged citizenship. One of the great debates taking shape in education today is not only the degree to which college readiness and work readiness are similar but also specific ways they are different.

The new reality is that our students need programs that integrate high academic challenge with the exploration of a range of career options and opportunities. Our teachers collaborate to integrate the norms that are necessary for good citizenship such as integrity, self-direction, perseverance and work ethic into the academic content of all courses, and the results are noteworthy.  This school year, we worked on redesigning our career pathways so that every student that graduates from Southside has the potential to earn industry credentials.

Our highly successful International Baccalaureate and our burgeoning Dual Credit Program has provided our students with the opportunity to accrue college credits in all academic areas. The research shows if students leave high school with college credits, they are more likely to continue their post-secondary studies.  We are proud to be able to offer our students this opportunity in a collaborative, supportive environment. Southside IB graduates have gone on to schools like Yale, Harvard, MIT, Duke, the Naval Academy, Notre Dame, Emory, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Institute of Technology, Wake Forest, and many others including the honors programs of various South Carolina universities.

We are committed to continuing to work to ensure that every student at Southside is college, career, and citizenship ready. Southside is working collaboratively to ensure that all members of our learning community – our students and their families, our teachers, assistant principals, and staff members– have opportunities to share their opinions and perspectives. Together, we can open doors of opportunity for all of our students. Our focus has been and will continue to be doing what is in the best interest of our students. Thank you for all of your support in helping in the development of our future South Carolina graduates and world leaders! 

Andre M. Dukes, Principal

Jessie Bowens, School Improvement Chair