SC-SIC Celebrates 35 Years of Insight, Impact and Innovation
Register for the SIC Annual Meeting
on March 23 
School Improvement Councils are celebrating 35 years of service to our schools and communities this year and you are invited to the party! SIC members and others should mark their calendars and plan to attend the 2013 SC-SIC Annual Meeting, scheduled for Saturday, March 23, 2013. (Read more...) |
2013 Honor Roll SICs Named
The School Improvement Councils (SICs) of nine South Carolina public schools have been named to the SC School Improvement Council's (SC-SIC) 2013 Honor Roll for their significant efforts to foster civic engagement in public education.
These Honor Roll SICs will continue in the running for SC-SIC's annual Dick and Tunky Riley Award for School Improvement Council Excellence. Named for the former U.S. Secretary of Education and South Carolina Governor and his late wife, the Riley Award was created in 2002 to recognize the vital contributions made by the 14,000-plus local School Improvement Council members who volunteer in every public school in the state. (Read more...) |
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Five new members join SC-SIC Board of Trustees for 2012-13
The SC School Improvement Council Board of Trustees has gained five new members for 2012-13.
Myriam E. Torres of Columbia, and Jeff Nicholson of Rock Hill, joined the SC-SIC Board over the summer to fill unexpired terms. Donna Hooks of Myrtle Beach, Luanne L. Kokolis of Rock Hill, and Amelia B. McKie of Columbia, came to the Board through election in the fall to serve full three-year terms.
The SC-SIC Board of Trustees is composed of 21 members representing all corners of South Carolina and acts in an advisory capacity to the SC School Improvement Council (SC-SIC), which serves nearly 15,000 members of local School Improvement Councils in the state's 1,100-plus K-12 public schools. (Read more...) |
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Director's Message
We've Done It Before - We Can Do It Again!
 News and social media are clogged with stories about the distressing state of education in South Carolina. Some of those stories are factual and others are way off base; it can be hard to separate fact from fairy tale. School Improvement Councils are convened by statute and by their very name are designed to work together to make our schools better. So how is public education in South Carolina doing? In addition to serving as SC-SIC Executive Director I also coordinate a nationally affiliated professional development program, the SC Education Policy Fellowship Program. Last week SC-EPFP was fortunate to have Dr. Terry Peterson talk with its Fellows about his work as chief education advisor to former SC Governor Dick Riley both during his two-term administration and also for eight years when Governor Riley became US Secretary of Education. Last year Dr. Peterson was invited to give a presentation at Harvard University focused on the five states in this country and five countries around the world that had shown the greatest gains in education over a quarter of a century. South Carolina was included in that very elite group! (Read more...) |
21st Century School-Family Family Involvement: Learning About and From Families and Communities
Dr. Gloria Boutte and Dr. Susi Long
University of South Carolina
 Ms. Baines and Mrs. Tisdale's first graders are excited to be in school. One reason is that the teachers make important connections between the children's families, and communities and their schoolwork. For example, the children interviewed community elders and wrote books about them. The teachers and children also wrote books using the music of the children's communities and heritage. The books were then used to teach important reading skills such as high frequency words, phonics, and reading fluency.
Parents flock to Mr. Hill's third grade classroom. Mr. Hill also finds ways to tap into community strengths and legacies. He and his all-male classroom engaged in a study of local barbershops. They interviewed barbers, consulted with the music teacher on barbershop quartets, and conducted other similar projects with community members. ALL of his students exceeded the district's and state's benchmarks. (Read more...) |
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SIC Spotlight
Fairfield Elementary SIC -
Fairfield County School District  This year, in accordance with the district's vision, the stakeholders of Fairfield Elementary School are working toward a common vision - Academic Excellence! The Fairfield Elementary School Improvement Council is working diligently to ensure that the school's motto of "Charting the Course to Leadership: Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day," is exemplified. With the support of the SIC, several initiatives have been implemented to increase students' academic achievement and leadership capabilities.
Fairfield Elementary is in the second phase of implementing the Highly Effective Teaching model, which promotes the use of Life-Skills and Life-Long Guidelines to provide students with an invaluable character education curriculum aiding them to become successful students now and productive citizens later in their adult lives. Focus on the learning environment and brain research has reduced the number of discipline referrals for minor infractions. (Read more...) |
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and YOU Can Help!
 April is child Abuse Prevention Month. There are more than 12,000 cases of child abuse and neglect every year in South Carolina. We hope you will join us as we work to strengthen and support public and private prevention efforts across South Carolina. Share in our vision that every child has the opportunity to thrive in a healthy, nurturing environment.
The pinwheel represents Prevent Child Abuse America's efforts to change the way our nation thinks about child abuse by focusing on prevention, working for community efforts and public policies that prioritize prevention right from the start, to make sure child abuse and neglect never occur.
We offer you and your schools the opportunity to support our work by donating $10.00 for Child Abuse Prevention Month. For your donation, you will receive a vase of pinwheels which can be proudly displayed at your school as a show of support of all prevention efforts in South Carolina and across the world! If you or your school would like to donate for more vases of pinwheels to plant a pinwheel garden, please contact us for opportunities! (Read more...)
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SICs - An Investment with Priceless Return!
 E'Lane C. Tipton
SC-SIC Board of Trustees Member
Chair, Board Membership &
Development Committee
Who could say no to an investment with a virtually priceless return?
South Carolina's School Improvement Councils - over 1,100 of them - bring parents, community members, educators, students together to work toward strengthening their school communities. Strong schools provide vibrant environments to help all students reach their potential and prepare for success futures.
Each year, our state's nearly 15,000 SIC members contribute over a quarter million unpaid volunteer hours to their local schools through SIC service valued at nearly $4 million. But current state funding supporting these SICs stands at just $227,000. That's less than the cost of a postage stamp for each public school student. (Read more...) |
