BOVINE AIR & EDUCATORS WHO CARE High-Performing Schools in Rural & High-Poverty Places
By Angela Hinton, Cathy Garner, Kristen Senn, Norman Mayfield, Emily Daniel, Marsha Adler, Allison Dupler, Brittany Acquisto and Brittany Green Nestled among pastures and farms, centered between two beautiful lakes with mountain views in rural Upstate South Carolina, the heartbeat of Carlisle-Foster’s Grove Elementary School is fueled by intentional relationships that build a culture of efficacy among teachers and students. Through collaborative efforts with teachers, parents, and community, the school maximizes every moment, every day, to weave together the knowledge, life, and career skills that ensure student success at a rural school with more than 55% pupils in poverty that earned the distinction of becoming a 2019 National Blue Ribbon School for high achievement over time. Less than 10 miles down the road, tucked away in the small town of Chesnee, SC is Chesnee Elementary School, a Title I school with approximately 70% poverty which was the second-highest performing Title I School and eighth-highest performing school in the state (out of 663 elementary schools) on the 2019 SC School Report Card.
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Making High Performance a Reality in High-Poverty Schools Both of these schools are shining lights in Spartanburg School District Two, a district with high-performing schools throughout; however, what these schools really have in common is a sustained focus on continuous improvement by the implementation of our district’s Instructional Focus on high impact Teaching and Learning Teams (TLTs), Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), and the coupling of best practices with vetted digital tools to further differentiate and personalize learning and success for all students. This continuous focus and commitment to continuous improvement has transformed both schools into exemplary models of high-performing schools in rural, high-poverty settings. At both schools, teams of teachers collaborate together, with the support of instructional coaches and administrators, to implement the
American Consortium for Equity in Education
