Berea High School is helping all students develop world-class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the Graduate by embodying the values expressed in our motto: Community, Character, and Excellence. As one of the most diverse schools in Greenville County (38% Hispanic, 29.5% White, 28% African American, 5% other), we have embraced community and remain true to our traditional community values and our family atmosphere.
Community: Berea High School is the Berea community. As a community our demographics have drastically changed in a relatively short period of time. For the first time ever, our majority ethnic group is not White; it is Hispanic. As a school community we have embraced our changes, and as a school we have enacted programs to meet the changing needs of our community. One such program is our newcomer program, which is designed to meet the language needs of our community. As a school of 1039 students, we gave 384 ACCESS test this year. The ACCESS test measures the language ability of students whose primary language is not English. In addition to meeting the needs of our students, we also work to make a difference in our community. For example, our students mentor and tutor ESOL students from Berea Elementary after school twice a week. The elementary students come here to the high school to participate in the program. Other organizations, such as Key Club, Beta Club, Student Council, Barrio Hispano, FFA, Teacher Cadets, AFJROTC, our athletic teams, and many more have also participated weekly in community service events. We have a large contingency of volunteers for Special Olympics. We have hosted a free summer camp for elementary age children. We received an award for having the highest percentage of blood donations by schools in the upstate. We also received an award as the top recycling high school in North and South Carolina. We host community events such as our Car Show, Veterans Day program, Hall of Fame weekend, Spirit Week, and many other events designed to give back to our community.
Character: Our unofficial motto is “make them smart-make them good.” With an emphasis on making them good, BHS has embedded programs that teach good character and reward students for displaying good character. Character development begins in the ninth grade with our advisory and freshmen success classes that emphasize good character and being accountable for your actions. We have programs in place to reinforce good character choices as well. The Renaissance rewards program and our Freshman Academy good character programs reward students for doing the right thing. Community partners, like Zaxby’s, provide coupons for free meals to students who do the right thing. Renaissance, which is sponsored by Josten’s, rewards students not only for good character but also for maintaining high academic standards.
Excellence: Our goal at Berea High School is for all students to be the best they can be. We have been fortunate to excel in the classroom, on the athletic field, on the stage, and elsewhere. Our Air Force JROTC program has received several state awards, including the Sword of Excellence for the best unit in the state, the state championship award in drill, and 12 consecutive Distinguished Unit Awards. Our athletic programs have also performed well on the playing field. We have made the playoffs in every sport, winning region for the first time in girls’ basketball, and completing our second consecutive undefeated season with back-to-back state championships in soccer. Our senior class received 2.4 million dollars in scholarships. We continue to strive for and embody excellence. In the classroom we saw an increase in three of the four EOC exams, with English and US history having the greatest gains of approximately 14%.
We believe that our success is due, in large part, to our faculty, who has built a highly collaborative environment that puts student interests before their own. Our goal is to provide a high quality education for all students and to prepare them to be successful in all aspects of their lives after high school. With the help and support of our community, we have no doubt that we will continue to accomplish our mission.
Sincerely,
Mike Noel, Principal Meg Thompson, SIC Chair
