On behalf of the School District of Pickens County (SDPC), I am pleased to present our 2021-2022 State Report Card. This is a summary of our progress in keeping our commitment that all students develop the World Class Skills of the South Carolina Graduate's Profile.
Although the ongoing pandemic created its own challenges, we continued to hold high expectations for students’ academic performance and success during the 2021-22 school year. Our SDPC faculty and staff met these challenges head-on and persevered with a focus on meeting student needs throughout the year.
SDPC provides a technology-rich education in a 1-to-1 environment, providing every student K-12 with a personal learning device, which is regularly used in a blended learning model of instruction. We also provide teachers with cutting-edge tools, training, and resources to best utilize the digital learning environment and incorporate instructional technology strategies into our lesson plans.
There were many major achievements made in SDPC during the 2021-2022 school year. One of our biggest points of pride was our 2020-2021 graduation rate, which was 87.1% –higher than the state average for the fourth consecutive year. Easley High School reached a graduation rate of 90% for the first time in the school’s history.
This year again, SDPC’s financial operations received the best audit results possible with an “unmodified opinion” from an external independent CPA firm.
Our schools continued to receive state and national honors. McKissick Academy of Science & Technology (MAST) was named a 2022 Magnet School of Excellence by Magnet Schools of America, the national association for magnet and theme-based schools. The International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), whose mission is to celebrate, inspire and support today’s educators, named Liberty Primary School a 2022 Model School for its focus on relationships and rigorous and relevant academics to impact student growth.
Each of our SDPC High School bands for outstanding seasons leading ALL of our band programs to the 2021 State Marching Band Championships. This is the first time that ALL programs have accomplished this achievement in the same year.
The Pickens High School volleyball team won the state AAAA championship. D. W. Daniel High School won both the AAA football state championship and AAA soccer state championship. Liberty High had two students and Daniel High had one student earn first place in the state championships in Track & Field.
SDPC Teacher of the Year Zachary Arms was selected as one of five finalists for the South Carolina Teacher of the Year award.
SDPC remains committed to creating a system that offers more personalization. We are using the challenges created over the past two years to be more creative and innovative in this area. Our focus on empowering our learners, offering quality learning environments, and creating engaging learning opportunities will drive our expectations for the future. We believe it is our job to engage each student today to RISE to tomorrow’s potential. By working as one cohesive group, we are focused on empowering each student for college, career, and life success. Engaging today. Empowering tomorrow.
In the past two years, we have navigated previously uncharted waters and dealt with the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic together as a Pickens County School District family. We are proud of the progress made by our students and staff during these uncertain times, and we are extremely grateful for the support we have received from the entire community.
Dr. Danny Merck, Superintendent
