Transforming Public School Choice Conference Resources

Think Big Think Boldly Think Beyond: This session will highlight proven strategies that work to transform school culture, student achievement, and the local community. The focus of the session will be on transforming education through specialization and choice that ultimately provide the opportunity for students to advance while in school, graduate on time, and be competitive in their local communities as well as globally.

School Choice Options & Issues: Keynote presentation highlighting school choice options and issues nationwide.

How Choice Can Transform a School District: Keynote presentation exploring how to use choice to transform a school dsitrict.

The Magnet Trifecta: Creating strategic partnerships with national, state and local leaders can advance magnet schools as a vital component in the landscape of school choice. Learn how one school district is leveraging these partnerships to help sustain its programs.

ESSA School Choice and the Law: Get an Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) update regarding the State Plan, including accountability, and an overview of some of the issues the Office of General Counsel encounters regarding student enrollment, transfers, suspensions and expulsions as it deals with school choice.

VirtualSC: The VirtualSC Franchise Program allows districts to expand their course offering, helps resolve teacher shortage issues, and provides students with flexible learning opportunities. Through the Franchise Program, VirtualSC helps districts set up their own virtual program that best suits their specific district's needs. This presentation would discuss this option that is available to all SC school districts and how it is already being used to assist some partnering districts.

Moving From Dreams to Realities: Does your school have a school wide theme? What motivates your staff and students? How do you create a school climate and culture of change and positiveness? Has your enrollment take a turn on the downside? Do you want your students to have more choice? more opportunities? Come learn how one "tiny but mighty" school district is transforming into a premier district of choice one school campus at a time. Turn your dreams become realities!

Choice in Charleston: Origins, Operations, Outcomes: Learn about the growth and development of School Choice in the 1980s, implications of the Educational Improvement Act of 1992 on School Choice, 2000's expansion of Choice Options in the Charleston County School District, positive outcomes, and challenges faced.

Roadtrip to a School-Wide Magnet: Blythe Academy of Languages in Greenville, SC is South Carolina's first elementary immersion school. Blythe has grown from a school of 300+ to 900+ students since beginning immersion programs in French and Spanish. Approximately 50% of the student population is magnet (choice) and includes several students who pay out of district tuition to attend each year. We hope to share our best practices and successes with others interested in immersion programs in South Carolina.

Personalized Learning in a Public School-The Montessori Way: In this session, we will discuss the successes and challenges of teaching Montessori in a public school setting. We will focus on the importance of individualized instruction; how state standards align with the Montessori scope and sequence; and the benefits of the Montessori philosophy.