River Bluff High School is helping all students develop the world-class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by designing and facilitating rigorous learning experiences within an innovative schedule and relational approach.
Partnered with caring teachers and administrators, RBHS, an EL Education School, has changed the paradigm by placing students as leaders of their own learning, personalizing both a curriculum and a schedule to meet the needs of the 21st century graduate. Serving over 2000 students in grades 9 through 12, the established school culture, “Gator Style,” embodies a desire to see collaboration permeate both the student and teacher experience, as students learn within a Flexible Modular schedule. This schedule exists as a five-day repeating cycle consisting of 25, 10 to 30 minute modules of time per day. Small and large-group instructional settings as well as independent learning time are offered, so students have choices about the time and place in which to engage in their learning. Developing leaders and citizen scholars who can collaborate and communicate at high levels, RBHS’s motto “Work hard. Get smart. Do good.” is the standard for both leadership and service with students and teachers. In heterogeneously grouped, grade-level CREWs, students find their individual place and develop an attitude of scholarship and citizenship within both RBHS and the community of Lexington seeking to become effective learners and ethical people who make contributions to a better world.
This past year, over 100 needy children in our community were provided gifts during Christmas through the Ella Stuff a Stocking school-wide service project. Life and career characteristics are developed within RBHS’s five Habits of Success and each student rates their progression on these habits with evidence in a digital portfolio, shared once a year during their Student-Led Family Conference, Passage Presentation and Senior Talk.
As our school year ended abruptly during the COVID - 19 pandemic, our students succeeded through these local, national and global circumstances. Staff quickly organized the curriculum into a virtual environment while focusing compassion over content. Teachers invested significant time in supporting students’ social and emotional development while identifying essential learning experiences to cover in the fourth nine weeks. Leaders and students also mobilized opportunities to serve the community in distribution of meals and resources. Above all empathy of circumstances was prioritized and while actions adjusted to the current circumstances, our goals to see seniors celebrated in a face to face graduation was realized. Listening and being accessible to our stakeholders was a top priority and our outcomes matched our expectations.
River Bluff thanks its community of learners, faculty and staff and the parents for their support through this unprecedented time. While we certainly missed seeing our students in person each day success happened comprehensively throughout the year. Succeeding in arts, athletics and academics River Bluff boasted two team state championships within SCHSL for 5A in Women’s Tennis and Game Day Cheer, selected for the finals in the 5A Marching Band State Competition for the first time in school’s history and academically 48 % of our students in the senior class graduated as honor graduates (4.0 GPA or higher).
As the school year ended River Bluff completed their comprehensive Credentialing Portfolio and are currently awaiting feedback from EL Education seeking to be the first school in the state of South Carolina to receive the EL Education Credential.
A list of challenging academic courses offered to students is coupled with two opportunities for advanced learning in two Centers for Advanced Study within Lexington County School District One: Law and Global Policy Development, and Media Arts, Design and Production. Engaging in real-world applications and skills, students from around the district learn new techniques and engage in a case study and portfolio development.
With a growth mindset and a desire to continually improve, analysis of student academic and social data will drive decision-making processes to support increased student achievement in three dimensions: mastery of content and skills; character; and high-quality student work. A comprehensive professional learning work plan and a commitment to engage parents and the community will assist RBHS in creating a family atmosphere that sets a culture of high expectations and student engagement.
Dr. Luke Clamp, Principal
Kim Jeffcoat, SIC Chair