| Educating Our Children |  |
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 Moving to a new community can be exciting but also daunting, especially for children who have to switch schools and make new friends. It’s up to parents to help make the transition as painless – and hopefully as fun – as possible. Researching options and being informed help ease confusion and lend an air of confidence when visiting new schools and neighborhoods. We’ve provided a tip sheet of the most basic information, but be sure to check the Web site of the school district you’re considering and request a newcomer’s information packet from the school board office.Greenville and Pickens counties offer information on each of their centralized districts. Spartanburg County has seven separate districts, each with its own administration and school board, and Anderson County has five separate districts. Regardless of the school you choose, you’ll find teachers and administrators interested in you and your children. Your family will be encouraged to play an active role in school and extracurricular activities to promote a positive learning experience. Your involvement with the school can go a long way toward helping your child feel comfortable and tends to boost school performance as well, even among older students. Greenville County The School District of Greenville County, with 65,000 students in 91 schools and four career centers, is the largest in South Carolina. Each school is fully accredited by the S.C. Department of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The district’s 48 elementary schools encompass grades kindergarten through five, where the emphasis is on hands-on, dynamic learning experiences. Media centers and school trips support the overall curriculum, and parents are encouraged to participate through classroom volunteering. Core subjects are the focus of the middle-school curriculum. The 17 middle schools cover grades six to eight, with special effort to assist sixth-graders in making the transition from the self-contained classroom environment of elementary school to an environment in which they study each subject in a different classroom. Offerings also include instrumental and choral music, art, health, physical education, industrial technology, foreign languages and keyboard typing. The 14 district high schools offer a full complement of academic subjects and job-related skills. Advanced Placement courses are available in every high school. The district publishes a curriculum guide; course offerings include everything from academic subjects to law education, environmental studies, keyboarding, orchestral strings and weight lifting. If you’re looking for something special, one of Greenville’s special learning centers may fill the bill: Magnet Schools. Twelve of the district’s 91 schools are magnet academies that offer unique educational choices at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Each academy features distinct instructional opportunities in academic excellence, foreign language, communication arts, pre-engineering and health professions, international studies, mathematics, science and technology, traditional studies and year-round education. Fine Arts Center. Located on Greenville’s Westside, the Fine Arts Center serves artistic students, whether their talents lie in art, creative writing, dance, drama, film/video, metals, music, painting or photography. Entrance is by recommendation and audition/portfolio. Students complete academic classes at their base school and attend the Fine Arts Center the other half of the day. International Baccalaureate Program. IB emphasizes all areas of the curriculum and is a great springboard to college. In addition to the academic core, students study “The Theory of Knowledge,” produce an extended essay and develop neighborhood responsibility through community service. IB is offered at Sara Collins and Fork Shoals elementary schools, Beck Academy, Woodmont Middle School and Greer, Southside, Travelers Rest and Woodmont high schools. Special Education-Satellite Program. Students with orthopedic, vision and/or hearing needs may be served in a satellite school. These schools offer resource-intensive programming with specially trained staff to meet the students’ unique learning needs. Satellite schools are centrally located, “regular” schools. The district’s satellite schools include Sara Collins Elementary, Beck Academy and J.L. Mann High Academy. The award-winning program at Washington Center serves about 100 severely mentally and physically disabled students, ages 3 to 21. Spartanburg Schools Spartanburg schools are in seven districts, each with a separate superintendent and administrative office. To coordinate practices and policies, the superintendents meet monthly for long-range planning and implementation of the state curriculum. If you’re considering living in the Spartanburg area, you should contact each district separately to make a valid comparison. Pupils from 3 to 21 years with identified disabilities may be eligible for special education and related services at various schools throughout the districts. The McCarthy-Teszler School is operated by all seven districts to meet the needs of those students with severe or complex disabilities. District 1: Spartanburg District 1 believes students can experience success in school and learn skills, attitudes, and behaviors that enable them to be successful in life. Located in the northwest corner of Spartanburg County, this district is rapidly growing, thanks to housing starts and industry expansions. The schools are supported by civic clubs and organizations. The district includes five elementary schools, two junior high schools, two high schools and Swofford Career Center, a vocational school. Schools are well equipped, featuring IBM keyboarding labs in the middle schools, computer labs, laser videodisc systems in all visual arts centers and CADD training in the career center. High school students work to meet high academic standards in Advanced Placement programs or train for skilled employment at the career center. District 2: District 2 includes the other half of Northern Spartanburg County, covering the Boiling Springs and Chesnee regions north of I-85. This district welcomes newcomers and offers extensive tours of the schools, discussions with school principals and information about the curriculum. As a general rule, achievement test scores here exceed national and state averages. Computer literacy is offered in all schools, as are athletics, music and community-oriented projects. Parents work with the schools through PTA and booster clubs. To accommodate a growing community, the district recently opened Oakland Elementary. District 3: “Focused on the Future” is the motto of District 3 schools, located in the eastern part of Spartanburg County. The district operates four elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school and Daniel Morgan Technology Center. Three elementary schools earned the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education. District 3 offers foreign language in elementary schools. Advanced Placement students score well in English, computer, calculus, U.S. history, European history, biology and art. Parents looking for a school active in the arts might consider District 3. The comprehensive kindergarten-through-twelve art program has garnered local, state and national awards, and many students have won college scholarships. District 4: District 4 administrators believe a child’s footsteps into a successful future are molded by the education he or she receives. Composed of a primary (K-2), elementary (3-5), middle (6-8) and high school, the district annually wins student honors through the Governor’s School for the Arts, the Governor’s School for Academics, Duke University Talent Identification, All-State Chorus and state AA athletics. Woodruff High has received the state’s Excellent rating for the past several years. District 5: District 5 is seeing perhaps the most rapid growth in South Carolina, thanks to the development of BMW in the heart of the district. The system prides itself on partnering with major businesses to expand educational opportunities. Nine schools serve 6,500 students at a student-to-teacher ratio of 18:1. Many schools in District 5 have attained the Palmetto Gold Award, designated to high-performing and high-improving schools. District 6: An extensive building program and forward-looking educational plan that stresses early-childhood education and academic acceleration are key elements of District 6. With more than 9,400 students, the district is one of the fastest-growing districts in the county. After moving to a new building several years ago, Dorman High School students continue to be high-achievers. Ten of its seniors were recognized as National Merit Scholars, and 26 Dorman students were selected for All-State Orchestra, All-State Band, All-State Chorus and All-State Drama. Also, the high school students’ SAT scores are among the highest in the state. On the athletic side, Dorman High’s boys golf and basketball teams have competed for state championships, while girls softball, basketball and volleyball teams have achieved similar successes. In 2005, the girls basketball team won their third-consecutive state championship. Elementary schools and their teachers have participated in the Fall Writing Conference in Columbia, the S.C. Science Convention and the Governor’s School for the Arts. District 7: The city of Spartanburg is the focal point of District 7. The system is ranked among the best in the nation. Spartanburg High School has been recognized four times by the U.S. Department of Education as a model school and is one of only three high schools in the country (public or private) that is a four-time recipient of the Blue Ribbon Award. Spartanburg High School also offers a range of Advanced Placement courses. About 6,000 of the district’s 8,600 students participate in art courses during the year. The district offers a variety of elective courses at the junior high and high school levels, including design principles, photography and three-dimensional design. Athletics are evenly balanced between girls’ and boys’ teams and cover most interscholastic sports. A number of Spartanburg High School teams consistently win regional and state titles. Pickens County The School District of Pickens County is a countywide system, serving five attendance areas: Dacusville, Daniel, Easley, Liberty and Pickens. A limited School Choice Program is an option in Pickens County; however, certain requirements exist. Pickens County’s school statistics are impressive. About 16,000 students are served in the district’s schools: 15 elementary schools, five middle schools, four high schools, one career center, one adult education program, one alternative program and one parenting program. Test scores are consistently above the state average. The average SAT score in 2005 was 1,049. The average student-to-teacher ratio in elementary schools is 16:1. Nearly 1,200 professional staff members are employed in the School District of Pickens County; 61 percent have a master’s degree or higher. Anderson County Similar to Spartanburg County, Anderson County Schools are separated into five distinct districts. Anderson School District One serves the northern part of the county with nine elementary schools, three middle schools, two high schools and a career center. In 2004, Palmetto Middle School was named Carolina First “Palmetto’s Finest,” the only middle school in the state to receive this designation. District Two, which includes Belton and Honea Path, has seven schools which have recently been renovated through a $30 million bond referendum. Largely rural, District Three serves Iva and the surrounding area, providing two elementary schools, as well as a middle and high school. District Four serves Pendleton with three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. About 3,300 students are enrolled in District Four schools. As the largest in Anderson County, District Five, serves the city of Anderson with 10 elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools. Forty-eight percent of teachers in District Five have a master’s degree or higher. T.L. Hanna High School was selected as the 1999 Carolina First “Palmetto’s Finest” high school winner, an award presented to the best high school in the state. The school also won the National Blue Ribbon Award in 1999 and 2000. PHOTO COURTESY OF GREENVILLE COUNTY SCHOOLS
Private Schools Bob Jones Elementary School Bob Jones Junior High School Bob Jones Academy Bob Jones Elementary School Bob Jones Junior High School Bob Jones Academy 1700 Wade Hampton Blvd. Greenville, SC 29614 864-242-5100; K-12 www.bju.edu Camperdown Academy Christ Church Episcopal School Daystar Christian Academy Easley Christian School Eddlemon Adventist School Faith Christian Academy and Preschool Foothills Montessori Landmark Christian Academy Mitchell Road Christian Academy Montessori School of Anderson Montessori School of Greenville Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School Piedmont Christian Academy St. Joseph’s Catholic School St. Mary’s School St. Paul’s Catholic School Shannon Forest Christian School Westgate Christian School |
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