Committee hears honors dance course application from Hilton Head Island High; referred to full board

Hilton Head Island High School presented an application for a dance honors course to the Academics Committee on Feb. 25. The school’s proposal asks the district to approve an honors-level dance offering and describes a portfolio-based approach that adds academic rigor beyond college-preparatory coursework.

According to staff, honors-level approval requires three elements: course content and materials, instructional methods and assessment. Presenters said the proposed course aligns to the South Carolina Visual and Performing Arts standards and adds an extra level of complexity and rigor appropriate to honors coursework. The application includes a complete syllabus with pacing, scope and sequence, and formative and summative assessments. The syllabus and materials are intended to show how instruction exceeds a college-preparatory standard.

The proposed honors pathway would require students to develop a portfolio with required components aligned to the state “graduate profile,” including sections showing world-class knowledge and skills, life and character, and career-related characteristics. Portfolios would include research on choreographers, documentation of units that demonstrate applied skills, project-based learning products, performance rubrics, peer review, video recordings and written reflections. Staff emphasized that reflection prompts and self-assessment would be central; students would review video of their performances, receive peer and instructor rubrics, and respond to written prompts about how they would improve and how the work connects to future aspirations.

Presenters described opportunities to bring guest artists into the classroom and to take students to professional performances, to support career pathways in performing arts. Staff said the district requires both formative and summative assessments and that these assessments must be adapted based on student learning.

After discussion, a motion was made in committee to recommend the Hilton Head Island High School honors dance course to the full Board of Education; the committee moved and seconded that recommendation. The proposal will be placed on the agenda for the Board of Education for final approval.