Spotlight One End-of-Year Edition

DID YOU KNOW...?

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

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Workforce Readiness

Richland One offers several work-based learning opportunities to help prepare students for the workforce, including job shadowing, internships and apprenticeships. Students also can earn various industry certifications before they graduate from high school.

Language Immersion

Richland One launched its Language Immersion Program in August 2016 at Carver-Lyon Elementary School. The program began with pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students and will expand by one grade level each year. Students receive half of their instruction in English and the other half in Mandarin Chinese or Spanish.

All Kids Eat Free

2016-2017 Year-End Edition

All Richland One students can eat school meals and snacks at no cost to them or their parents regardless of household income, thanks to the district’s participation in the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision Program.

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Notice of Non-Discrimination Richland County School District One does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, age or other protected characteristics in its programs and activities.

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National and International

Honors and Awards

Class of 2017

Hand Middle School teacher Jennifer Wise, who represented South Carolina as the Palmetto State’s 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year, received the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

A science experiment designed by three W.J. Keenan High School students was launched into space and performed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.

A.C. Flora and Dreher high schools were named two of America’s Most Challenging High Schools by The Washington Post. Dreher also received a silver medal in U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 ranking of the best high schools in America.

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.

Upgrades to Athletics Facilities

H.B. Rhame Elementary School teacher Stephanie Johnson received the prestigious Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence from the National Education Association Foundation.

A fifth-grade team from Lewis Greenview Elementary School won at the state level and qualified for the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals at Michigan State University. Greenview’s team competed against 67 other teams from around the world, including the U.S., Poland, Japan, China and Kenya, and won third place in their category.

By The Numbers

13.9% Increase in the district’s graduation rate since 2010

7

8%

Increase in the district’s Advanced Placement (AP) exam passage rate since 2010

50%

Decrease in the number of students dropping out of school between 2009 and 2013

Number of Richland One students who were named 2017 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists, a distinction earned by less than 1% of U.S. high school seniors

Richland One teams and individual student-athletes won 17 state championship titles in five sports – swimming, basketball, track and field, golf and baseball. The A.C. Flora High School boys’ golf team (at right) won its eighth consecutive state championship.

Did You Know?

Crayton Middle School was named a National School to Watch by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform.

Seven Richland One schools were named 2017 National Healthy Schools award winners, recognizing them as being among the healthiest schools in the nation.

The awards are presented by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the Clinton Foundation.

State Champions

$83.3 million+

Amount of college scholarship offers and other financial aid received by the Class of 2017, a new district record!

350 Number of students who completed career and technology education (CATE) programs in an area of study with career-ready skills; 194 earned certifications (2016-2017)

29

Richland One’s athletics facilities are getting some much-needed upgrades after decades of use and wear and tear. The upgrades will vary from site to site based on needs but will include new scoreboards, new competition lighting, new PA systems, new bleachers and parking improvements.

New turf will be installed at each of the eight project sites. The projects, which are being financed through the sale of general obligation bonds, will include the construction of a new district stadium on the W.J. Keenan High School campus.

New turf installed at Columbia High School

Number of consecutive years that Richland One has received national honors for excellence in financial accounting and reporting

Aa2 Bond Rating

Richland One’s high bond rating enables the district to sell bonds at lower interest rates and save taxpayer dollars!

Groundbreaking ceremony for the Lower Richland Stadium renovation project (January 2017)