Ridge View High School celebrated its 25th Anniversary this year. The faculty and staff of Ridge View High School, Home of the Blazers, helped all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina graduate by creating learning experiences that are tailor-made for each student. Ridge View’s School Improvement Council (SIC) and administration’s collaborative efforts resulted in continuous improvement for our students in the following areas: critical thinking and problem-solving, collaboration and teamwork, creativity and innovation, communication, information, media, and technology, and knowing how to learn.
We continue to foster relationships with our students and local community as we began the school year with a Back to School Video, Take My Horse, an Old Town Road parody. As the year contributed our school successes far exceeded our challenges. However, one major global challenge changed the trajectory of our traditional school platform in a huge way. COVID-19 was a national global health pandemic that forced students and staff to work remotely from home in March 2020. As we continue to navigate our new E-Learning platform, our School Improvement Council and I are incredibly grateful for the students, faculty, parents, and community who wholeheartedly embraced this journey, to be premier in everything we do. Continuous improvement in the area of socio-emotional and physical safety of students was a goal for SIC. Parent University sessions were held and planned with local experts in counseling, law enforcement, and education. Although nationally schools have a new normal, the collaborative efforts of our parents, students, and faculty resulted in continuous improvements for our students during the 2019-2020 school year in the four A’s -- Academics, Arts, Activities, and Athletic. Successes in the following areas for the 19-20 school year include:
Academics
- In addition to a school-wide magnet, Arts Innovation for Medical Sciences Magnet (AiMS), Ridge View has two specialized magnets, the Scholars Academy Magnet for Business and Law and the Institute of Health Sciences and four schools-within-a-school, School for the Arts (SFA), Carolina Alliance of Technology (CAT), Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), and an AVID Early College program.
- Ridge View is a 2019 nationally certified Magnet School by the National Institute for Magnet School Leadership, meeting the standards of the National Magnet School Standards of Excellence.
- Erika VanAlstine was a National Merit Finalist.
- Scholars Academy Magnet for Business and Law Magnet & the Institute of Health Sciences Magnet was awarded the Magnet Schools of America (MSA) School of Distinction Award.
- Students enrolled in the AVID Early College program have an opportunity to earn an associate degree from the University of South Carolina - Sumter while still in high school without paying tuition.
- In partnership with Clafin University, students in our CAT program are taking Dual Credit courses in Engineering and Computer Science.
- 15 Seniors qualified for Palmetto Fellows, 10 AP Scholars, 6 AP Scholars with Distinction, 3 AP Scholars with Honors, and 1 National AP Scholar.
- Science teacher, Dr. Degenhardt, was a finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Teaching Math and Science.
Activities
- Ridge View High School’s administration appeared on WLTX with a local artist for their Back To School video, Take My Horse, an Old Town Road parody.
- Winter Wishes, one of Ridge View’s school-wide community service project exceeded their goals by raising $2,000 for Habitat for Humanity, donating 783 toiletries to Sistercare and 13,073 canned good items to Harvest Hope Food Bank, providing 50 holiday stockings to Bridge Creek Elementary and Prisma Health Children’s Hospital, sponsoring three additional service projects benefitting The Harmony, The Haven, and the Homeless Period Project, and donating 22 pints of blood to the American Red Cross.
- The National Honor Society raised $5,687 for the Children’s Miracle Network.
- Student Body Officers, Trenton Love and Marco Halbrook, attended Palmetto Boys State. Trenton was elected the Superintendent of Education. Marco was a State Senator.
- Ridge View alumni, Faith McKie, was crowned the 2019-2020 Miss Clafin.
Arts
- Fine Arts students performed on Facebook Live to promote and thank the Arts in Basic Curriculum and SC legislators for supporting the fine arts.
- Principal Dr. Brenda Mack-Foxworth was awarded the South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA) 2020 Honor Administrator.
- 26 Band students were selected for the Region and All-State Band programs.
- 10 Visual Arts students won 11 Scholastics Arts & Writing awards.
- Ridge View Marching Band placed 3rd in the state championship competition at Chapin High School.
- 47 works of art from Ridge View students were showcased at the South Carolina State Fair. 5 students were awarded honorable mentions for their self-portraits.
- English 4 students participated in a Romeo & Juliet residency with artist Buren Martin. Students performed the Shakespearean play for the freshmen class.
- 4 Orchestra students were selected for the 2019 Midlands Region Orchestra.
Athletics
- At the 25th Anniversary Football Classic, Ridge View honored their first football coach, Kirk Burnett.
- For the third consecutive year, Ridge View Varsity Basketball team is South Carolina High School League State Champions.
- Head Football Coach, Perry Parks, named the South Carolina Youth Shrine Bowl head coach.
- 4 varsity football players were selected to the Columbia Metro Bowl and 2 were selected to play in the North-South All-Star game.
- Ridge View Blazer Cheer is the Region 3 AAAA champions.
- The Lady Blazers Golf team finished 2nd in the Region Championships. Imani Belton was the Region Champion. Imani and Emma Ishakov were selected for the All-Region team.
As the world continues to search for a cure for the coronavirus, we believe that nothing can break the Blazer Spirit. We are blazing the trail to being premier as we provide world-class knowledge, give opportunities to be active learners of world-class skills, and develop life and career characteristics.
We will get through this together and our students will be stronger and successful in spite of the pandemic the local and global communities are currently experiencing.
