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The Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards program (PGS) began with the Education Accountability Act of 1998, giving recognition to schools for high levels of academic achievement and high rates of improvement. The PGS recognizes schools based on the criteria in the statewide Accountability Manual approved by the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) for both general performance and working towards closing the achievement gap. Within those two categories, a school may be awarded either the gold or silver designation. The EOC revised the criteria for Palmetto Silver General Performance this year, reducing the number of eligible schools.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Go Falcons!!!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DHS receives two outstanding awards from the Department of Education

Congratulations, DHS!  Go Falcons!

DCSD IS #3 IN THE STATE IN TERMS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT; #2 IN GRAD RATE

(DARLINGTON) -- Breaking all records and exceeding all expectations, the Darlington County School District is now ranked #3 in the state in terms of academic achievement, according to the South Carolina Department of Education. The Darlington County School District and eleven district schools earned EXCELLENT absolute report card ratings, according to the annual school and district report cards released today by the South Carolina Department of Education. Five district schools improved their ratings and 96 percent of the schools in the school district are now rated Average or above. In terms of overall academic performance, the Darlington County School District ranks third of all South Carolina school districts.

Ratings formulas based on student achievement levels are set by the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee. Schools receive Absolute ratings – Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, or At-Risk – based on how their students perform on the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS). Excellent is the highest rating a school or district can earn.

SCHOOLS - 2012 ABSOLUTE RATING
Brockington Elementary School – Good (up from Average in 2011)
Brunson-Dargan Elementary School - Average
Cain Elementary School - Excellent
Carolina Elementary School - Excellent
Darlington County Institute of Technology – Excellent
Darlington High School – Excellent (up from Good in 2011)
Darlington Middle School - Average
Hartsville High School - Excellent
Hartsville Middle School - Average
Lamar Elementary - Excellent
Lamar High - Excellent
Mayo High School for Math, Science & Technology - Excellent
N. Hartsville Elementary School - Excellent
Pate Elementary School - Excellent
Rosenwald Elementary School – Average (up from Below Average in 2011)
Rosenwald Middle School – Below Average (up from At-Risk in 2011)
Southside Early Childhood Center - Excellent
Spaulding Elementary School - Average
Spaulding Middle School - Average
St. John's Elementary School - Good (up from Average in 2011)
Thornwell School for the Arts - Average
Washington St. Elementary School – Good (down from Excellent in 2011)
W. Hartsville Elementary School - Average
DARLINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT - Excellent

Further, the Darlington County Institute of Technology earned an Excellent report card rating, making it the sixth highest scoring career center in the state, according to the South Carolina Department of Education.

“I am so proud of our teachers, schools, and our students,” said Dr. Rainey Knight, district superintendent. “While we are celebrating today, we also recognize we still have much to do. We can’t control the ratings and how we stack up with other districts but we can control how well we serve our students and our community. For us, it’s about meeting the educational needs of every child, every day. If we can do that, we will continue to improve.”

GO FALCONS!!!  KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

Welcome to Darlington High School, home of the Falcons, where Academic Excellence is our goal.  The vision of Darlington High School is to promote a safe, caring, positive learning environment that supports the belief that teachers have the right to teach and students have the right to learn.  The academic program of studies at Darlington High School is designed to meet the needs of each student who enters our doors.  Our academic offerings include College Prep courses, Early College Credit, Honors courses, and Credit Recovery.  Darlington High School's “College Magnet Program” allows a student to earn up to 27 hours of college credits while in high school an equivalent of scholarships approximating $14,175.  In addition to providing a great value financially, the Honors College earns distinction through a purposefully designed program for excellence.  Students in the Honors College begin preparing for the more rigorous college classes by completing a more demanding academic schedule in the 9th and 10th grades. Beginning in the 11th grade, students are allowed to take up to three college courses:  English 101, History 201, and History 202.  During the student's senior year, they have the ability to take six additional college courses: English 102, Psychology 101, Government 101, Political Science 101, Economics 101, and Teacher Cadet.  At the program’s culmination, students have had the opportunity to graduate high school with 27 hours of college credit, 3 credits short of a full year of college free of charge.  But, Darlington High is not done yet.  The program is looking to add Math and Science classes in the near future, which could result in even more college credits completed before high school graduation.   We are extremely excited about our newly-renovated science labs.  These labs will enable our students to receive state-of-the-art science instruction. 

In light of all these opportunities for academic excellence, Darlington High School is the school for the college-bound students to excel!  As a High School that Works, our school strives to meld academic and technical studies while ensuring that every course is challenging and engaging.  Students benefit from integrated long and short term projects.  Darlington High School is on the cutting edge of outstanding educational practices. Students are given numerous opportunities to pursue their interests and nurture special talents while completing their academic course of study.  As a Renaissance School, multiple school-wide incentives for students and faculty that are achieving and demonstrating Falcon PRIDE are provided.  Our athletic teams are among the best in the region and compete for state titles yearly.  The Falcon band and Fine Arts programs are growing and involving more students each year.  Darlington High School is breaking barriers to allow all students to excel.  Come join us at DHS as we pursue educational excellence!



Dr. Greg Harrison, Principal

 

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May 2013

District Names Finalists For Outstanding First Year Teacher Award

Teacher of the Month - February 2013
Senor Ezequiel Gomez

Senor Gomez currently teaches Spanish I at the Freshman Academy and is also DHS's Soccer Coach. 

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Teacher of the Month - March 2013
Ms. Martha Flowers

Ms. Flowers has been teaching in Darlington County for sixteen years and currently teaches Exceptional Education Resource at DHS six periods a day and one period a day at Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology.  In addition, she teaches Exceptional Education at Darlington County Adult Education in the evenings and co-advises the Darlington High School Chapter of the National Honor Society.

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