North Charleston High School (NCHS) is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by... offering Advanced Placement courses; implementing a Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support Program and a Multi-tiered System of Support; partnering with Mercedes Benz Van, Charleston County Council, and other business entities to provide jobs for students and newly graduates; partnering with Trident Technical College to enroll students in dual credit courses; increasing CTE completers from two or three students two years ago to 32 students; partnering with the school district and community stakeholders to have a full-time STEM support team on school site to expose students to various STEM career opportunities; and partnering with Combined Intervention – a local community organization designed to reduce suspensions and expulsions, teaching students about careers, colleges and universities, and military recruitment.”
In the area of collaboration and innovation, NCHS incorporated the expertise of Combined Intervention. The organization reduced student suspensions by working proactively and reactively. In reference to the former, representatives walked the hallways counseling students who were tardy, cutting classes, or causing school disruption; procured information from administration and teachers about students who were prone to disrupt the learning experience; and visited homes to counsel students and parents. In reference to the latter, representatives held counseling sessions after school to instruct students in positive behaviors conducive to the learning experience. As an example of its success, there were 56 students suspended for the month of April 2019; and when the organization was hired in May of the same year, only 24 students were suspended in May. The organization has presented plans of intervention for the 2019 – 2020 school year.
In the area of creativity and innovation, NCHS’s STEM program was more than an acronym; it was a learning reality. Students used principles from associate disciplines to problem-solve; they used STEM’s disciplines which were applied in a variety of combinations; they collaborated through a developmental process which required them to analyze and evaluate given problems; and students resolved real-world problems which were collected and placed within a portfolio to assist in their endeavors to procure world-class skills. Through various partnerships, students were exposed to STEM professions to develop employability skills identified in the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce Talent Demand Study (2017-2022) by means of field studies, job shadowing, and internships. As a result, 170 students participated in field-studies to build and promote employability skills; three students participated in summer apprenticeships; eleven students created professional portfolios to connect with colleges and world-wide companies; and there was a career symposium on the school site whereby 44 local businesses and industries participated to assist NCHS’s students to produce world-class skills.
Henry E. Darby, Principal
Connie Lindsey, Chair
