The Profile of the South Carolina Graduate, adopted by the South Carolina Department of Education, consists of three categories related to preparing ALL students for successful futures. The three categories are related to providing students with: World Class Knowledge, World Class Skills, and Life and Career Readiness. As we reflect on the 2017-2018 school year, it is evident that White Knoll High School strives to develop the World Class Skills of the Profile in every student. The school's mission statement and core values, "Empowering ALL students to be productive global citizens in the 21st century by fostering accountability, lifelong leaning, and respect," set the tone for the work of the school's staff and students.
White Knoll High School strives to provide opportunities for both staff and students to be lifelong learners. The school's professional learning plan provides unique opportunities for staff members to participate in required learning focused on the 4.0 Teaching Standards Rubric, content area literacy, and the effective use of technology in the classroom. Faculty members also have the opportunity to participate in action research as a part of their professional growth, as well as book studies, and focus groups. In addition to onsite professional learning, our administrative team participated in the Harvard School Turnaround Leaders' Workshop during the summer of 2017 and used the knowledge gained to establish focus groups of teachers that developed strategies to address our school's technical and adaptive challenges. These strategies included modifying the master schedule to include more student direct contact with content area teachers and increasing time during the school day for additional teaching based on data driven instructional decisions. Our digital learning coach and principal participated in Google's Dynamic Learning Project training in June of 2018 and will work closely with a Google mentor throughout the upcoming school year to provide digital coaching cycles for up to 40 teachers. WKHS started it's dual enrollment program with Midland Technical College this year and our students experienced tremendous success both in learning and in college credits earned. Our students are receiving world class knowledge from our world class staff. Three of our teachers were recognized as outstanding educators in the State of South Carolina by being named the Health Occupation Student Association Teacher of the Year, the HOSA Outstanding New Health Science Teacher of the Year, and the South Carolina Academy of Science Teacher of the Year for Excellence in Secondary Science or Math Teaching.
When we reflect on our school's success in preparing our students with world class skills, we are extremely proud of the effectiveness of our teachers which results in outstanding performances by our students. Our Center for Public Health and Advanced Medical Studies was recognized by Project Lead the Way as a School of Distinction, one of only three schools in the state of South Carolina. Our Health Occupation students have been extremely successful in earning Certified Nursing Assistant certifications at the rate of 100%, four students were accepted directly into pre-pharmacy college programs, one student was accepted into the accelerated USC pharmacy program, and 11 students completed pharmacy technician programs. In addition, we have students who are serving in HOSA leadership capacities at both the local and state level. Our Career Specialists have facilitated cooperative learning experiences, internships, and job shadowing experiences for close to 150 students and one student has been accepted into the Michelin Technical Scholars program. In addition, 31 students haven earned soft skills certifications. Our Engineering and Architecture programs recently competed at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference with excellent results. Competing against other schools from across the country, our Architectural Drafting team placed 10th, the Engineering Technology and Design team finished 11th, and the Additive Manufacturing team finished 20th. Our students earned a total of 291 certifications this year which include Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word Expert certifications. Our school believes that the skills of communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking are essential to our students' success both while in high school and in their post graduate endeavors. Our teachers strive to develop instructional activities that require students to incorporate these skills and to improve their ability to effectively use them.
We understand that our ultimate goal is to prepare every student for post graduate success whether it be in a career or in college. This is evident in our mission statement and our core values of accountability, lifelong learning, and respect. We believe that it is important for our students to build relationships with our staff members, to improve their ability to effectively communicate, collaborate, think critically, and display their creativity. Our faculty focus groups decided to arrange our master schedule for the upcoming school year to include an opportunity for students to build a trusting relationship with at least one adult. We also instituted LINK Crew this year which assists freshmen with a successful transition to high school.
As we continue to prepare our students for a successful life, our work will continue to be guided by both the South Carolina Department of Education's Profile of the South Carolina Graduate and our school's mission and core values. Go Timberwolves!
Edward L. Daughtrey, Principal
Jeffrey Rose, SIC Chair