With a focus on student achievement and commitment to ensuring schools throughout the District are poised for success, structural changes are underway in Aiken County’s Wagener and Ridge Spring-Monetta area schools.

Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, Busbee Corbett Elementary Middle and Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle High will split, ending a nearly decade-long arrangement of combined grade spans and will instead operate as independent elementary, middle and high schools with dedicated leadership and support staff. Additionally, the Wagener community will soon have the opportunity to be involved in the selection of a new high school principal. The school’s new educational leader will follow current Principal Ute Aadland in continued progress of becoming an Academy of Leadership & Military Science. Aadland has served as Principal of Wagener-Salley for five years and will assume a new role at the Aiken County Career & Technology Center for the 2018-19 school year.

RETURNING TO SINGLE-LEVEL CONFIGURATIONS

“While the move to combined grade spans in our more rural schools with lower student enrollment numbers may have made sense a number of years ago, the taxing expense of quality instructional leadership without a principal dedicated to a single-level grade configuration cannot be ignored,” Dr. Sean Alford, Superintendent, continued. “In addition to a consistent request from the community for the split, performance data, particularly at the middle school level, doesn’t support continuation of this service delivery model.”

No one could be more thrilled with the split in grade spans than Ridge Spring-Monetta and Busbee Corbett’s Principals Kyle Blankenship and Sonya Colvin.

“With curriculum spanning from sixth-grade to twelfth and students’ social and emotional development ranging a large span as well, it’s difficult to provide the level of support our teachers and students deserve,” Kyle Blankenship, Principal of Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle High, commented. “I’m looking forward to welcoming a new administrator at our middle school campus and working collaboratively with him or her to foster an even higher level of performance at our schools.”

In the last year, Ridge Spring-Monetta has transitioned to a Farm-To-Table Healthy Living School with a thematic focus on Health Science & Agricultural Enterprise. Additionally, the mighty Trojans have excelled in the athletic arena, having just last weekend competed for the Class A state title in basketball. The Trojans also achieved marked success in football, extending the regular season into the playoffs and competing for the Upper State Championship Title.

Busbee Corbett is also making strides in student achievement, particularly at the elementary level. Busbee Elementary made a double-digit percentage point improvement in its ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) rating, from 12.9% in 2016 to 28.2% in 2017.

While a new leader has yet to be named for Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle School, A.L. Corbett Middle School has solidified its leadership. Ms. Robin Hill-Davidson, currently the principal of Greendale Elementary School in New Ellenton, will transition to a new role as educational leader of A.L. Corbett Middle School this summer.

“‘Ms. HD,’ as she’s referred to by most, has a wide and varied career which includes training and experience in areas of need at our school,” Sonya Colvin, Principal of the combined Busbee Corbett Elementary Middle stated. “I’m excited to see our staff’s and community’s shared vision to return to two individual schools on a shared campus move a step closer and look forward to Ms. HD’s leadership at the middle school level.”

A NEW LEADER FOR WAGENER-SALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

Under the leadership of the school’s principal Mrs. Ute Aadland, Wagener Salley’s War Eagles are soaring to new heights. With a graduation rate over 90% and incredible student performance on the WorkKeys (ACT National Career Readiness Certificate) assessment, with two students scoring at the Platinum level, Wagener-Salley High School is poised for great future success.

Aadland will transition to a leadership role at the District’s Career & Technology Center in June and is looking forward to the opportunity to serve the District in a new capacity.

“Career And Technology Education is increasingly important for our students,” Aadland commented. “Helping students gain employable skills skill sets has never been more important in our county and in our school district. To be on the cutting edge of skill mastery for a greater number of students is really exciting to me.”

The community will have the opportunity to be involved in the selection process for Wagener-Salley’s new educational leader. Information is forthcoming on a meeting date and virtual opportunity for community involvement in selecting a new principal for the high school.

“As I make good on a promise to ensure equitable educational opportunities for students throughout the District, I am cognizant of the fact that my commitment does and should extend to schools and students in our more rural areas,” Dr. Alford, stated. “I look forward to working with the Wagener-Salley and Ridge Spring-Monetta communities in the weeks ahead and in taking deliberate steps to ensure their children’s future success.

LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2018 PR EXPANDING WS RSM LEADERSHIP