Back 2 School: Students in Dorchester, Berkeley County head back to class

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Students will return to the classroom in three Lowcountry school districts on Monday.

The first bell of the 2023-24 school year will ring Monday morning for students in Dorchester Districts 2 and 4, and the Berkeley County School District.

New initiatives will begin this fall across some Dorchester District 4 schools including an elementary-level athletic program in soccer and basketball, and the return of robotics programs.

DD4 will also focus on new industry coming to the county.

“As our industry builds out here, new businesses coming out this way, any support they can provide financially of course, but in having people support us, and be involved in our school with mentorship programming, opening the doors to our students for apprenticeship opportunities and getting them in work-based positions,” said Superintendent Jeff Beckwith.

New safety measures and accommodating growth are some of the top concerns for Superintendent Dr. Shane Robbins as nearly 27,000 students head back to class in Dorchester District 2.

“We’re really going to be focused on safety again this year. That’s just a nationwide issue because if we don’t focus on safety, it impedes our ability to have a good instructional environment,” he said.

The district is utilizing new technology to make things safer when your kids are in school.

“Stop It” is a reporting app students can access through their phones and school tablets where they cab report various issues like bullying, weapons, drugs or anything they feel needs to be flagged.

The Stop It app monitors tips 24 hours a day so the district or even law enforcement will be notified if needed.

“The second one is Raptor Technologies. And Raptor is a very robust system. It does a lot of different things. Visitor management, so anytime you come in the schools do you have an ID? It will be checked for a nationwide database not just for sex offenders, but any type of felonies,” explained DD2’s Director of Security, Preston Giet.

It also can be critical during serious emergencies.

“All of our teachers, all of our school staff, will have the app on their phone. So if any time they need to initiate whatever school procedures, they can do that … they need to go on lockdown, they’ll be able to push a button that goes on lockdown and alerts our school staff through the app. And police and first responders will have geolocation as to where they are and allow them to communicate directly with dispatch.”

A teacher can use the app to communicate live during emergencies, providing information to law enforcement like where they might be hiding and how many kids are with them.

The Berkeley County School District (BCSD) is gearing up for the new school year which will include new programs like an effort to boost reading, and security measures.

There will be a new emphasis on phonics when students return for the 2023-24 school year.

“This year, we are bringing in a new phonics program, focusing on phonics in grades K-2,” said Jennifer Croley, who serves as executive director for Academics and Innovation for the Berkeley County School District.

The program is designed to get back to the basics by helping students improve their reading skills in all 27 elementary schools.

There will also be new programs to help give high school students additional skills upon graduation.

“We’re establishing an emergency and fire management services program at the high schools. So, with this program, once a student at completed it, they will be certified as a firefighter,” said Sonya Addison-Stewart, Director of Career and Technical Education for BCSD.

They will also offer a similar natural hair braiding program designed to help students who want to start that business.

“With this course, students will take some other classes like accounting, and entrepreneurship that will help them when they’re going into a career of hair braiding so they know how to operate a business,” she said.

BCSD has hired 12 new school resource officers this year which means only two of their 48 schools will not have an officer. But both of those schools are located directly next to another school that does have an assigned SRO.