Polk County Education

EDUCATION

POLK COUNTY SCHOOLS

Polk Central Elementary Grades K-5 Jan Crump, Principal 2141 S. NC Hwy. 9, Mill Spring, NC 28756 828-894-8233 http://www.polkschools.org/pcs/

Saluda Elementary School Grades K-5 Dr. Cari Maneen, Principal 214 E Main St, Saluda, NC 28773 (828) 894-1040, http://www.polkschools.org/sal/

Sunny View Elementary School Grades K-5 Preston Allen, Principal 86 Sunny View School Rd, Mill Spring, NC 28756 (828) 894-1050, http://www.polkschools.org/sve/

Tryon Elementary School Grades K-5 Kevin Weis, Principal 100 School Pl, Tryon, NC 28782 (828) 859-6584, http://www.polkschools.org/tes/

Polk County Middle School Todd Murphy, Principal; Nikki Honeycutt, Assistant Principal 321 Wolverine Trail; Mill Spring, NC 28756 828-894-2215 http://www.polkschools.org/pcms/

Stearns Education Center District Administration Aaron Greene, Superintendent PO Box 638 125 East Mills Street, Columbus, NC 28722, (828) 894-3051, polkschools.org

Polk County Early College Grades 9-13 Mary Greene, Director 1545 E. N.C. Hwy. 108, Columbus, NC 28722 828-894-2698 http://www.polkschools.org/pcec/

Polk County High School Grades 9-12 Brandon Schweitzer, Principal; Assistant Principals Josh Hill and Michelle Travieso 1681 E. NC Hwy. 108, Columbus, NC 28722 828-894-2525 http://www.polkschools.org/pchs/

Polk County Schools Aaron Greene, Superintendent 125 East Mills Street Columbus, NC 28722 828-894-3051, www.polkschools.org

Rick Covil - Chair

Mike Ashworth - Vice Chair

Lucinda T. Allen

Sara Bell

Danielle Gibbs

Judy N. Jackson

Polk County Schools

Doing What’s Right For Students

Polk County Board of Education

Relationships: Polk County’s teachers work diligently to develop meaningful relationships with their students. These strong relationships allow teachers to know, understand and meet the needs of the students they serve.

Academic success: Polk County Schools was recently ranked as the 2nd highest performing school district in North Carolina. The Polk County Board of Education and hundreds of educators strive to provide high quality educational experiences for young people affording them the tools they need for future success.

Community: Polk County Schools receives substantial support from the Polk County community. Families, local government, businesses, and philanthropic organizations partner with our staff and schools to ensure students are afforded opportunities to learn and grow in the classroom and beyond.

WHAT MAKES POLK COUNTY UNIQUE

Polk County Schools is often asked “What are your teachers doing that allows your students to perform so well year after year?” Other school systems want to know what magic we have that they can replicate in their schools. Unfortunately for the other school systems, the answer isn’t an easy one. If they want their students to perform like students in Polk County, all they need to do is replicate the strong community support our students receive.

For students in Polk County, a supportive community comes in many different forms. We have strong and consistent leadership from our School Board and Superintendent. These leaders can focus on providing the best learning opportunities for our students because our parents and other community members trust them to make the best decisions possible for our students. Polk County’s Commissioners also understand that to have a school system where students have opportunities well beyond just the classroom instruction and sports will take additional funding. Through the strong financial commitment from the commissioners, Polk County’s students have art, music, band, engineering and career exploration courses.

With this framework in place, our schools can focus on the needs of their students. The staff of Polk County Schools understand our singular focus, “Doing What’s Right For Students.” When new teachers and principals come to Polk County, they sometimes take a while to fully understand how different our schools really are from our neighbors. Every school system talks about focusing on students, but the schools in Polk County fully integrate this idea in everything we do. We explain to new employees that we hired them because they were the best person we could find to enrich the lives of our students. It is our teacher’s responsibility to form a meaningful relationship with the students to help each student reach his/her potential. Polk County Schools understand that the best instructional decisions are made in the classroom. This instructional freedom allows our teachers and students the freedom to experiment and try new activities to help their students succeed.

Summer AIG Seminars - funded by PCCF

The Polk County Community Foundation funds AIG Summer Seminars for academically or intellectually gifted students. This past summer the following camps helped AIG students advance their academic and engineering skills. The AIG Summer Seminars are a great opportunity for students to be challenged by teachers from different schools and academic areas. • Learn. Explore. Create. - This course will have students in grades 4-6 creating stop motion video using a variety of production techniques. • Robots - This course will have students in grades 4-6 building and programming robots. • Booklovers Camp/Origami Fun - This course will have students in grades 4-8 preparing for the district, regional and state Battle of the Books competition. • The Power of Code - This course will have students in grades 4-6 coding in Java

Script. • Chocolate: The Sweet Taste of Chemistry - This course will have students in grades 7-9 learning about chemistry with chocolate as their tasty instructional focus. • Water Stewardship - This course will have students in grade 7-9 learning about the important role of water through snorkeling and scientific data collection

The support of our students goes beyond the schools. The Polk County Community Foundation is a major partner is many things our students do each day. Generous funding from the Foundation is focused into two areas: Programs for Students and Opportunities to Train Teachers. For Students, the Foundation supplements the funding for our afterschool program, sponsors the Summit mentoring program, pays 100% of the student fees for participating in the PCHS Band, funds the Summer AIG programs. For Teachers, the Foundation recently sponsored sending our school counselors to the NC School Counselors conference to learn better ways to support our students. The Foundation also sent a group of Middle & High school teachers to the National Social Studies Conference.

PreSchool Program

Polk County Schools operates a preschool program at each of its four elementary schools, offering students in our community the opportunity to attend a high-quality early childhood program. The program targets the intellectual, physical, social and emotional development of the children to ready them for school. Services are available through funding from Head Start, NC-PreK, Exceptional Children, Title I and support from Polk County’s Commissioners.

After School Program

With 21st Century Grant Funding and assistance from the Polk County Board of Commissioners, Polk County Schools is pleased to be able to offer the PEAK After School program again this year. PEAK After School serves students in PK-8th grade in all four elementary schools and at Polk County Middle School. When enrolled in the program, parents know their children can stay at school from 3:00PM to 6:00pm each day. During After School, students have opportunities to receive help with school work and homework; participate in STEM, literacy and social-emotional enrichment opportunities; and enjoy fun games and activities.

Career & Technical Education

Along with the strong academic course load available to students at Polk County High School, the school also provides a strong Career & Technical Education program. The students can participate in career training for: Agriculture, Health Science, Construction, Business & Marketing, Hospitality, and Family & Consumer Science.

When students complete a focused study in one or more of the career areas, they are successfully passing industry certification exams in: Health Care, Construction, Office productivity, and Food Service. The Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at Polk County High provide students the skills needed to obtain jobs right out of high school while providing other students with the practical skills needed to continue their postsecondary education.

PCHS students in career training classes regularly compete and win regional and state competitions. Due to their success at Regional and State competitions, students in PCHS agriculture classes have attended the National poultry judging, land judging, tractor driving and Future Farmers of America (FFA) competitions. Students in PCHS construction classes have improved school campuses by building sidewalks, picnic shelters and outdoor classrooms. These same students have completed the first of nine houses that will be used as supportive housing for thermal Belt Outreach Ministry clients. This is an example of Polk County High School students giving back to the community that has supported them throughout their school career.

SUMMIT is an addition of the PEAK After School program, funded by a grant through Polk County Community Foundation. This funding provides additional clubs and teams that would not otherwise be available to our After School students. These include clubs that provide our students with a small group, enriching environment to learn and engage in specific topics. Some of our current clubs include Debate, Gardening, Sign Language, Character and Construction.

Another important component of SUMMIT is the volunteer mentoring program. In this program, students are paired with a community volunteer, who commit one hour each week to meet with students one-on-one. The mentors spend time each week assisting with homework, playing games, reading, learning and talking with individual students. The SUMMIT mentoring program benefits the students, the schools, and the community when our students make meaningful and lasting connections with their mentors.

Athletic Accomplishments

Polk County Middle School and Polk County High Schools sponsor male and female athletic teams for students in grades 6-12. Through these sports, students learn about the importance of committing the time and effort necessary to reach personal goals. As a part of a team, athletes learn to work together and rely on input from everyone to reach team goals.

Ensuring that our students have excellent Reading and Math instruction is important, but this doesn’t mean our students spend all of their time inside the classroom. Polk County teachers know that the best way for some students to learn is by moving and experiencing the content. Through the support of partners like FENCE and Muddy Sneakers, our elementary students have opportunities to learn in the forests surrounding our schools. At the Middle and High School level, students have opportunities to work on STEM and Construction projects or learn about Agriculture and Horticulture on the high school farm.