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Chief academic officer: 64.6% of Greenwood 51 graduates were college- or career-ready in 2023-24; apprenticeships and dual-credit programs highlighted
Summary
Chief Academic Officer Darren Rice reported 64.6% of graduates were college- or career-ready in 2023-24, described dual-credit enrollment and apprenticeships (including a Rural Water Association pathway leading to Level C operator certification), and outlined plans for a school-based print-shop enterprise and expanded work-based learning.
Darren Rice, Greenwood 51's chief academic officer, told the board the district's 2023-24 school report card showed 64.6% of graduates were classified as college- or career-ready. He said 16% of graduates were both college- and career-ready and provided subgroup numbers for "college ready" and "career ready" as reported in the presentation.
"64.6% of our students last year were either College ready or career ready," Rice said, adding the district seeks to increase that share by expanding dual credit opportunities, work-based learning and apprenticeship pathways.
Rice highlighted apprenticeship opportunities, including a pre-apprenticeship with the South Carolina Rural Water Association that can lead into a two-year H2O apprenticeship and a Level C operator certification that is portable across the state. He said the district currently has at least one student applied to that pre-apprenticeship and a few more interested.
Rice reviewed dual-credit and CTE options: he listed 21 dual-credit opportunities and reported current dual-credit enrollments as stated in the presentation (28 students at Lander and 16 at Piedmont/Pont Tech as presented). He also described campus-based CTE completer pathways, apprenticeships that pay up to $15 an hour during pre-apprenticeship work-based learning, and plans to start a small school-based print shop using Title IV funds to provide hands-on work and soft-skills training for special-education students.
Rice acknowledged a recent dip in the graduation rate for the most recent cohort and said that cohort included students whose ninth-grade year was affected by COVID scheduling; he emphasized the district's historically stronger multi-year trend and expressed optimism about reaching a higher rating if current work-based placements and completers convert to certified completers by year's end.
Note on figures: some percentages reported in the presentation were given as discrete items by Rice and do not sum arithmetically in the transcript; the article reports the figures as presented by the chief academic officer.
