Spotlight One End-of-Year Edition 2019

From major local, state and national awards to the everyday triumphs that happened in schools and departments throughout district, Richland One students and employees had a lot to celebrate this year.

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Also this year, we developed a new Strategic Plan for the district that will guide our work for the next five years. The start of the new school year will serve as the official kickoff of our 2019-2024 Strategic Plan and you will hear more about it in the coming weeks.

Craig Witherspoon, Ed.D. Superintendent

Richland County School District One 1616 Richland Street Columbia, SC 29201

Have a wonderful summer!

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During the summer and throughout the school year, we want you to stay connected to what’s happening in Richland One. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, visit our website (richlandone.org) and watch Richland One TV on Spectrum cable channel 1303 and R1TV On Demand on our website.

The new school year will begin on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 for Richland One students. We are counting down the days until we can welcome them back to school for another great year.

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As we prepare our students for college and careers, we continue to expand the choices we offer them. This year, we launched new magnet programs at four schools and we celebrated the inaugural year of our new Commercial Driver’s License Program, which is the first of its kind in South Carolina and only the third in the nation. We are also proud of the extensive upgrades that we have made to our athletics facilities, including one new stadium and two renovated stadiums; the two remaining projects will be completed during the 2019-2020 school year.

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We don’t want to keep the good news to ourselves. We believe it’s important to keep our stakeholders informed about our progress and achievements. In this year-end edition of Spotlight ONE, we share with you some of our many Points of Pride from the 2018-2019 school year.

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2018-2019 Year-End Edition

A Publication of Richland County School District One

www.richlandone.org

POINTS OF PRIDE

2018-2019 marked the inaugural year of the Leadership Richland One magnet programs, which are funded through a $15 million grant awarded to the district by the U.S. Department of Education. The language immersion magnet program at Carver-Lyon Elementary School was expanded and three new career leadership magnet programs began at Bradley Elementary, W.G. Sanders Middle and W.J. Keenan High schools.

The Richland One Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Program at Eau Claire High School began in August 2018. The program, which was established through a partnership between Richland One and the S.C. Trucking Association, is the first high school CDL training program in South Carolina and only the third in the nation.

Caughman Road Elementary School was designated as a World Citizen International Peace Site for its outstanding efforts to promote peace, which is a core Montessori principle. Caughman is one of four schools in Richland One offering Montessori education.

Dreher and A.C. Flora high schools were ranked among the top 15 high schools in South Carolina in the U.S. News & World Report “Best High Schools” recognition program. The national program ranked Dreher as the seventh-best high school in South Carolina and A.C. Flora as the state’s 15th-best high school.

Six Richland One teams (from Brockman Elementary, Lewis Greenview Elementary, C.A. Johnson High and W.J. Keenan High schools) won first-place awards at the state level and qualified to compete in the 2019 Odyssey of the Mind World Finals. Odyssey of the Mind is an international education program that requires students to be creative, quick thinkers in solving problems ranging from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics.

to participate in the Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Trumpeter Christian Houghton of Lower Richland High School was chosen to participate in the Honors Performance Series at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.

Zhariah Walker of Lower Richland High School was one of only 61 students statewide to graduate this year with 12 years of perfect school attendance. Zhariah, who received more than $3.5 million in scholarship offers, will attend the Honors College at Claflin University.

A.C. Flora High School’s athletics program was awarded the 2019 Carlisle Cup by the S.C. Athletic Administrators Association. The Carlisle Cup honors the best overall athletics program in each classification in South Carolina. This year, A.C. Flora was the only high school in the S.C. High School League to qualify for the state playoffs in every sport sanctioned by the league.

Shaquetta Moultrie and Julia Dawson of W.A. Perry Middle School were named the Middle School Teachers of the Year by the South Carolina Bar Law-Related Education (LRE) Division.

Richland One Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon was named the 2019 Administrator of the Year by the South Carolina Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association (SC/NSPRA).

For the 31st consecutive year, Richland One received international awards for excellence in financial accounting and reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association and the National Association of School Business Officials.

BY THE NUMBERS credential or higher on the Ready 74% atobronze Work (R2W) national career readiness of Richland One high school juniors earned

assessment which helps determine whether students have the skills necessary to be successful in the workforce.

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Richland One students completed career and technology education (CATE) programs of study, with many earning state and nationally recognized certifications.

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high school seniors were honored as Richland One Academic All-Stars.

This year’s class of Academic All-Stars was the largest in the 17-year history of the recognition program.

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Richland One eighth-grade students were named South Carolina Junior Scholars by the S.C. Department of Education based on their academic ability, talent and achievements. Richland One had more Junior Scholars this year than any other school district in the Midlands and the fourth-highest number in the state.

Annie Burnside Elementary School was named a Leader in Me Lighthouse School by the FranklinCovey company. The honor recognizes Burnside’s outstanding results in developing student leaders and improving the school’s culture by using the Leader in Me process.

Dreher High School students Florence Wang and Michael Shimizu earned perfect scores on their Advanced Placement (AP) exams, an accomplishment that few students in the world achieve. According to the College Board, which administers the exams, they are among an elite group of students to earn every point possible on the AP exams they took in May 2018.

Bassoonist Elizabeth Nobles of Hand Middle School was chosen

$86.5 Million+ The Richland One Class of 2019 earned more than $86.5 million in scholarships and other financial aid ... a new district record!

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Richland One high school seniors were among the first in the state to be awarded the South Carolina Seal of Biliteracy, which recognizes students who have attained a functional level of proficiency in two languages.

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students were named 2019 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, a prestigious distinction achieved by less than 1 percent of all high school seniors in the United States.

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state championship titles were won by Richland One teams and individual student-athletes. (Richland One is one of only a few South Carolina school districts requiring students to have at least a C average to participate in athletics and other co-curricular activities.)