Our District is helping all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by

….providing excellent learning environments illustrated with the upgrades and additions to the Chesnee High School sports facilities that included upgraded football and baseball fields, new tennis courts, and a competition-level track at the school.  In addition, we opened the school year with the completion of the renovation of the former Boiling Springs Intermediate School, which re-opened as Sugar Ridge Elementary, and the completion of a new wing at Rainbow Lake Middle School. With these renovations, coupled with the redrawing of school attendance lines, all elementary schools are now comprised of grades K-5 and we have a better balance of students at our middle schools. 

…responding to the challenges of Covid-19 by providing families a Return-to-Learn plan in 2021-2022 that followed all CDC guidelines and protocols. In addition, teachers worked collaboratively to continue creating flexible learning plans that allowed student choice and provided impactful engagement and instruction in any setting whether at school or while isolating or quarantining at home.    

….providing outstanding professional development for our teachers including our first “Teaching and Learning in Two Conference in June, fifth annual “Design in Five” conference, fourth annual “Sustaining the Work of TLTs” conference, instructional coaches on every campus, in-person opportunities in our District and at our local colleges, and multiple online opportunities. To grow the leadership capacity in our school district, we continued to implement the D2 LEADs Academy to provide relevant leadership learning opportunities to 21 D2 educators who aspire to become school and district-level administrators. Over the past year, approximately 70 teachers graduated from USC Upstate with a Master’s in Applied Learning and Instruction, a District-funded opportunity made possible by D2’s collaboration with USC Upstate!

….the collaboration of our teachers and staff with parents and students in ongoing Response to Intervention (RtI) discussions to meet individual learning needs of struggling students.  Much of this is accomplished through our Teaching and Learning Teams’ (TLTs) approach to regularly using data to revise our instructional practices.

….achievement results on state and national high-stakes tests that have continually put us in the top ten districts in South Carolina and above the national average.  The results from the 2020-21 school year showed that our district ranked 4th highest in the state with regards to our graduation rate and the percentage of students college or career ready.  In addition, many students leave us with multiple hours of dual or AP credit already earned including a number who have been awarded an Associate’s degree through the Spartanburg County Early College High School, a collaborative effort of all seven Spartanburg school districts.

….offering outstanding fine arts and athletic programs in band, orchestra, chorus, drama, art and over 24 different sports teams including everything from football to fishing.

….our Career and Technology Education (CATE) program headlined by Swofford Career Center, a collaborative effort with Spartanburg One, that offers 15 career majors.

….our growing work with students in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) activities and competitive teams.  We continue to offer project-based learning opportunities that span from kindergarten to high school classrooms. For the past two years, our district sponsored a high school Lego Robotics team!

….our students’ use of the 1:1 computer technology we have provided for the past nine years from grades 2-12.  During the 2021-22 school year, students in grades K&1 were also provided with a 1:1 device to use at school.  Chromebooks are provided for students in grades 6-12 and iPads for elementary students.

….our constant reinforcement of and opportunities for students to demonstrate the soft skills employers, including us, desire from staff.

Lance Radford, Superintendent