Back to school already? There’s a reason things feel different in York, Chester counties
It’s already back to school time for many area students, and there’s a reason things may feel different this fall.
“Our new school calendar is the biggest change,” said Bryan Dillon, public information officer with the Clover School District.
Half the Rock Hill region school districts joined a statewide trend in starting school earlier this year, bucking the long practice of waiting until the third Monday in August. To do so, they created modified school calendars that offer other changes, too.
“Like Clover and Chester, we are using a modified balanced calendar this year,” said York School District public information officer Latoya Dixon, “which will afford our staff and families additional breaks throughout the year, without adding additional student or teacher days.”
School lets out for summer. It’ll be different across York County when it returns
Three area districts starting back earlier this year combined for almost 19,000 enrolled students at the end of last year.
York
York students start back Monday. The district has an eye on enrollment, which gets its first official measure 10 days into the school year. It’s seen an unprecedented number of new homes approved in and around the city in recent years.
York ended last school year with just more than 5,000 students. That number was up 18 students from the same time a year prior. Recent projections by the district expect many more students when the more than 2,000 new homes expected within the district are built.
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York held its convocation Tuesday — where the district named high school social studies teacher David Frintner its district teacher of the year. Open houses for students and families followed Thursday. Upcoming highlights in York include the addition of a second Affinity Health Clinic at York Middle School and a new competency-based education program piloted by only two districts in the state.
The competency-based program would allow, for instance, a student with a restrictive schedule or limited course options to complete a self-study class and get credit by demonstrating their knowledge. Or it could give a student credit for an interest area that isn’t covered by traditional classes.
In the spring announcement of the new model, superintendent Kelly Coxe said the traditional public school setting can limit students with regulation based on schedules, student age, grade and other factors.
“Competency-based education provides an avenue to be innovative in the way students demonstrate mastery of content knowledge and earn credit for coursework,” Coxe said. “While there are still compliance regulations that must be adhered to, the options for maximizing student learning opportunities will now be expanded.”
Also this spring, the district approved a $3,000 increase for teachers.
Counting traditional breaks, the York calendar has four week-or-longer breaks for students. The weeks of Oct. 9-13 and Feb. 19-23 are new with the modified calendar. Traditional breaks include more than two around Christmas, from Dec. 22 to Jan. 8, and another week in the spring, April 1-5. Students finish May 30.
Clover
School starts Tuesday in Clover.
There’s a new Clover High School principal — Donna Farris.
Bethany Elementary School has a redesigned car rider line and has construction ongoing to add classroom space.
It takes a couple of weeks to get accurate enrollment counts as students move into and out of districts over the summer, but the Clover system has more than 9,300 students. That’s about 300 more students than Clover had on the first day of the last school year.
Clover continues to plan for community growth, with additions of a new high school and elementary school in the Lake Wylie area. Like York, Clover has a long list of new homes approved within its borders. Student count increases already caused a shift of some elementary students this past school year.
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One addition this year is an “innovation bus” — a retired bus from the state that career and technology students stripped out and turned into a mobile classroom.
“It will visit every elementary school and allow students the ability to participate in a unique learning experience,” Dillon said.
Clover students are off Dec. 25-Jan. 5, 2004 (plus the weekends before and after them) and April 1-5. New breaks come Oct. 9-13 and Feb. 19-23. School ends May 30.
Clover, SC, schools go to a modified year-round calendar. Shorter summers. Longer breaks.
Chester County
The Chester County School District starts back Monday. Superintendent Antwon Sutton and other district officials held a virtual town hall on Aug. 1 to welcome families back and highlight both achievements and goals for county schools.
Last school year saw continued performance improvement at Chester Middle School, Great Falls Elementary School and Great Falls High School. Gains the past three years took those schools off statewide lists for lower-performing South Carolina schools. State report cards improved for the district as a whole, and graduation rates increased by almost 2%.
Chester County will start its third year with an early college program where students take classes at York Technical College and can earn an associate degree while in high school. The past three years, the district awarded loyalty bonuses to its staff.
“There’s a major shortage across districts, across this country,” Sutton said of staffing challenges. “It’s not a Chester thing alone. It’s across the country.”
Goals for the coming year include planning and construction for a new district career center facility, a long-term capital needs update, improved school safety and an increase in college and career readiness. The district will add a podcast and updated website, a community listening tour and spotlights on district students and staff.
The calendar in Chester County runs through May 31. Traditional long breaks are Dec. 20-Jan. 3 and April 1-8. New ones are Oct. 9-13 and Feb. 19-23. Those extra breaks also will be an opportunity for students who need extra assistance to get it.
