The Hilton Head Christian Academy

The Hilton Head Christian Academy was founded in 1979 and has a 13-acre campus.  The Academy teaches K5-12.

This is the third of a six part series about the biggest issues facing Hilton Head and Bluffton schools today. The three biggest issues identified by the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce are:

• The quality of instruction.
• School funding.
• The explosive growth of our community.

The Chamber invited several of Beaufort County’s top educators and athletic coaches to speakabout these topics at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort on Hilton Head Island on August 28, 2008.  The speakers’ comments are presented in six parts.  This is part three.  The speakers were:

1. Fred Washington Jr, Chairman, Beaufort County School Board.
2. Dr. Valerie Truesdale, Superintendent, Beaufort County Schools.
3. Mike Lindsey, Headmaster, Hilton Head Christian Academy.
4. Peter Cooper, Interim Headmaster, Hilton Head Preparatory School.
5. Questions from the audience and answers from the panel.
6. The coaches speak about student-athletes, and character.

Headmaster Mike Lindsey

Mr. Lindsey has been the Headmaster of the Hilton Head Christian Academy since 1992.  Previously, he served as Headmaster of the East Hill Christian School in Pensacola for seven years.  He has been an educator since 1975 following seven years as a USAF pilot.  Mr. Lindsey has a business administration degree from Troy State University and and educational administration degree from Valdosta State University. The following is a summary of Mr. Lindsey’s comments at the State of the Schools event in August, 2008.

Children Revitalize My Life

Today, a parent really can’t go wrong with any school on Hilton Head Island that they choose for their child.

Headmaster Mike Lindsey

The faculty and administration of each school is energized and they all have the goal of providing the best education possible for their students.  This is certainly true of the Hilton Head Christian Academy.

When I first came to the Academy, I thought at the time that I might just stay for a couple of years.  But, seventeen years later, I keep showing up.   I am much older than when I arrived, but the kids never change.  They are always the same age.  It has been a rich experience.

I wear two hats at our school.  I am both the Headmaster and a teacher.  There is nothing that compares with the experience of being in the classroom and teaching children, a constant reminder about why I have spent the last 33 years of my adult life with children.

We Are a Mission Driven School

We are a mission based school and part of our mission is to create and maintain a stable and predictable culture, a culture that our parents identify with closely.  We are in partnership with our parents and we work hard to maintain the culture that our parents want us to have.

We are research based.  There are lots of ideas out there but we have limited resources to spend.  We have to know that something works before we buy it.  One of the greatest challenges that I face is to know how and where to invest our money.   

We are data driven.  In any business, you have to know what is working.  We have to hold ourselves accountable for the job that we do.  One of ways that we measure academic progress is with RIT scores.  Public schools use them and we thought that it would be a good idea if we did too.  It definitely helps us to evaluate a public school student who wants to come to our school.  To our surprise, we found out that we are the only private school in the State that uses them.  

We are results oriented.  The data must drive you somewhere that you want to go.  Education hinges on a few important things but some larger issues can get in the way.  If we make mistakes we will pay for them in our next year’s enrollment.  I always remind myself that every year I have to sell 500 seats.

 

We Want The Best Teachers

It is of the greatest importance who we admit and who we employ.  The best teachers pay dividends with the performance of our students.  Therefore, we go nationally to find the best teachers we can get and do whatever it takes to meet their salary requirements.  Seventy per cent of our teachers have masters degrees.  It they do not have a masters degree, they have to enter a masters degree program within a reasonable amount of time.  We want the level of our teachers to be better and better every year.

Technology Is Very Important

Technology is a big deal and it is expensive.  We cannot pay for everything that we would like to have but we have added white board technology to most of our classrooms and we expect to have them it in of our classrooms by the end of 2009. 

Personal Student Care

Our parents want their child to be both educated and cared for.   They want to make sure that someone is there to step into their lives and help them.  Perhaps they need help in assimilating into our school or they don’t seem to be living up to their potentials.  To make sure that this is done, we have created a new position of Assistant Headmaster for Student Development and so far, this has worked out very well for our school.

Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge The Gated Community Specialist ® Go Gated Realty ® Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Rich@gogated.com www.GoGated.com 1-800-333-5025 Read Some of My Clients’ Success Stories

 Part 2: The Biggest Issues Facing Hilton Head and Bluffton Schools Today

In this second of six parts, Dr. Valerie Truesdsale, Beaufort County School Superintendent talks about the three biggest issues facing Hilton Head and Bluffton schools according to a survey by the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce.  These issues are: quality of instruction, school funding and the explosive growth of our community.  She spoke along with other top local educators at the State of the Schools event sponsored by the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce and held at the Hilton Oceanfront Hotel on Thursday, August 28, 2008.   The Go Gated Blog is posting the event in six parts:      

1. Fred Washington Jr,  Chairman, Beaufort County School Board.
2. Dr. Valerie Truesdale, Superintendent, Beaufort County Schools.
3. Mike Lindsey, Headmaster, Hilton Head Christian Academy.
4. Peter Cooper, Interim Headmaster, Hilton Head Preparatory School.
5. Questions from the audience and answers from the Panel.
6. The Coaches speak about student-athletes and character.   

Dr. Valerie Truesdale,  Beaufort County Schools Superintendent 

Dr. Valerie Truesdale has been an educator for over 25 years.  She earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of South Carolina in 1988, and MBA from Georgia State University in 1978 and a Bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Clemson University in 1974.  Dr. Truesdale is starting her second year as Superintendent after serving as Superintendent of Oconee County Schools from 2003-2006. 

Dr. Valerie Truesdale

Dr. Truesdale has served on many boards and commissions including four years as a Board Member of the International Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), an association of teachers and instructional leaders with over 175,000 members worldwide.  She was recently named President-elect of ASCD.  Dr. Truesdale previously served as President of the Allied Division of the S.C. Association of School Administrators, President of the S.C. Network for Women Administrators and Chair of Leadership Columbia.   She was recently appointed to the South Carolina Public Charter School Board.  Dr. Truesdale serves on the External Advisory Board for Clemson University’s College of Health, Education and Human Development and has taught graduate courses for Clemson University and the University of South Carolina.

 

High ‘E’ in Hilton Head and Bluffton Public Schools

“The state of education in our 28 public schools: I have to say that this is our ‘E’ year.  This is the year that we have so much excitement and energy and enthusiasm in our public schools that you can bottle it!  You can touch it!  You can feel it in our schools. There’s always excitement and enthusiasm in the first part of each school year.   We ’school people’ get refreshed in the summertime and we come back with renewed enthusiasm.  We are in our 9th day of traditional schooling and so we are still pumped. 

There is particular energy in our Hilton Head schools.   We had Envisioning Educational Excellence activity last October with 40 community members and they outlined a new mission for us.  Those folks are pushing us towards educational excellence in all aspects of what we do. There is also a lot of energy in our schools because of new technology.  We are all lifetime learners, but with new technology many of us are really learning because some of us are not just technology natives as our students are.  Some of us are technology tourists and we’re learning it together with our students, which creates a lot of energy. 

The Importance of Math, Science and Technology

Last year we focused and identified what works in our schools and in our state and national best practices and we brought some of those best practices to Beaufort County.  We looked across our landscape and saw the rich heritage of strong achievement in our classes and we began to ask how we can replicate that in all of our schools so that the best practices used by our best teachers are the best practices used by all of our teachers.  We have a strong legacy of excellence in our classrooms and we want to replicate that across all of our schools.  So we focused on improving student achievement, particularly in math and science.  Those are two areas that need a little push and we’re going to kick it up a notch. 

So we have four focus areas:  Literacy, Numeracy, Technology, Alignment.  Alignment means that the 3rd grade curriculum and the strategies used are the foundation for the 5th grade and the 7th grade and the 9th grade.  It’s very deliberate and thoughtful and it’s not left to happenstance. 

Mathematics is the language of the 21st century.  We know that our students must be extraordinarily strong to be competitive in math, science and technology.  When I came along and finished college 34 years ago, a book worm could do well in school.  These days it’s not okay just to be a good reader; you also have know math and technology and science in order to be literate for the 21st century marketplace.  We are really focusing in on that.  Each one of the 18 elementary schools has the structural coaches that will focus on math and science as well as other instructional areas this year.    We received a lot of grants last year for implementation this year. 

Vertical Articulation PK-12

We are also helping with vertical articulation which is what I was just talking about: the PK through 12 experience so that we don’t build our schools with the child in mind; We walk through the schools in the mind of our children so that we see where there are gaps and overlaps from the student’s perspective, not the adult’s perspective.   If we can plug some of those gaps and eliminate some of those overlaps we have better instructional use of time.   With that, math coaches will be helping to standardize our elementary curriculum in mathematics across the county.  We have also added technology integration coaches to help those of us who are technology immigrants or visitors to get comfortable with extending the learning of students using technology to all students in all 24 elementary and middle schools.  They will help teachers took for links and opportunities to make technology come alive in the classroom.  There is not a single student that does not use technology every single day in their normal lives. To help students cement their keyboarding skills we added lab assistants in the elementary schools.   They need to be able to have the touch skills that they need to be able to move quickly so that they don’t do hunt and peck, like some of us! 

Whiteboards and our Teachers’ Knowledge

We believe that our teachers need to  have the tools for learning at their fingertips and that they are comfortable with it so that every teacher in Beaufort County is receiving a lap top so that they can have the technology, the ability to plan at home and the infrastructure to support technology which is part of our bond referendum this year, uplifting our schools so that the infrastructure supports technology. 

Last year we had a pilot of 72 interactive whiteboards.  The success of that pilot resulted in our equipping 60% of our classrooms this year with interactive whiteboards moving towards 100%.  A lot of training is going on for teachers and educators on interactive whiteboards.  Why are those important?  They are the visual, tactile extensions of the auditory learning process in the classrooms.  It makes it a more complete package.

We believe in investing in our teachers’ knowledge by providing outstanding training here at home and when students are not in school so that our teachers can come back each year when they are refreshed and energized.  This past summer in June, for the first time we hosted our first summer institute with intense training by nationally known speakers.  We expected 150-200 teachers but 735 teachers of 1,600 total gave up a week of their vacation and attended for their own learning. The title of the conference was “Gifted Strategies for All Learners” and our teachers came and learned and shared and networked and had a terrific investment in our students for the following year because those teachers invested in their own learning.  

Extended Math and Science Learning

Just as we have arts-infused schools at Lady’s Island Elementary School and the Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts, we’re extending learning in math and science at three sites using engineering.   This offers opportunities for kids to have hands on learning in realistic settings.  The University of South Carolina College of Engineering in Columbia is lending us their teachers to teach our teachers how to use Legos, robotics and other things to make technology come alive in our schools so that kids can learn physics without meaning to. 

We added a Gifted Magnet this year called the advanced math, engineering and science academy  for students who qualified by the State’s criteria for gifted and talented students for grades three and four.  That’s underway right now:  a stand alone school within a school for gifted education for science and math housed at Beaufort Elementary School.

Expectations ’Stretch’ Hilton Head and Bluffton Students

We are raising expectations across the board in academics and extracurriculars.  I am so proud that we are going to hear from our athletic partners this morning.  We are blessed that our Athletic Directors are monitoring our students’ grades and making sure that our student athletes are high quality leaders in our schools and that they set great role models.  We have added expectations teams in each school that work to make sure that no child can hide from high expectations.  Every student who is a no show, or every student who might drop out has to chat with this expectations team.  Every student who is not stretching him or herself to the potential that the adults see evident in that student’s background and or test scores, IQ scores, etc, ask “are you stretching”.    Push might be a four letter word but it’s a good four letter word and sometimes adults have to push a little bit to make sure that young learners are stretching themselves to the degree that ought.  I’m a mom of three kids and I know that every once in awhile a swift kick helps them to focus and say on track.  Students who are involved in school stay in school  and they achieve in school -  so we’re extending that. 

We have a campaign through the PTAs to  ‘Be There’.  The idea is to be there for your kids, for your teacher, for our schools and to make sure that we are on the same page on the same day. 

We are blessed in Beaufort County that we have a cohesive Board of Education and supported by a County Council that believes in children and that they have put funding behind making our schools as excellent at they can be.  You also have as an outgrowth of the Envisioning Educational Excellence, one of the strategies that was identified was establishing an educational foundation.  We are very blessed to have the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry supporting us.  Some of the Founders of that organization are in the audience today and thank you for what you do. 

In a nutshell:  We are excited about the state of education in Beaufort County.   We’re focused on excellence.  We’re energized and enthusiastic.  You can just feel it and it’s electric! ” 

After Dr. Truesdale spoke, John Vann, Board Chairman of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce announced that Dr. Truesdale had raised a budget surplus of over 5 million dollars in her first year as Superintendent and that the Board was putting that money to work in the Beaufort County public school classrooms this year. 

 

Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge The Gated Community Specialist ® Go Gated Realty ® Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Rich@gogated.com www.GoGated.com 1-800-333-5025 Read Some of My Clients’ Success Stories

 

The Biggest Issues Facing Hilton Head and Bluffton Schools Today 

According to a suvey by the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, the  three biggest issues facing our schools today are the quality of instruction, school funding and the explosive growth of our community.  OnThursday, August 28, 2008 several top local school officials taddressed these issues and answered two other important questions: What makes our children prepared academicaly and what makes a well-rounded student?  The State of the Schools event was held at the Hilton Oceanfront Hotel and was sponsored by the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce.   

The academic speakers were Fred Washington Jr, Beaufort County School Board Chairman; Dr. Valerie Truesdale, Beaufort County Schools Superintendent; Mike Lindsey, Headmaster, HIlton Head Christian Academy and Peter Cooper, Interim Headmaster, Hilton Head Preparatory School.   Athletic program speakers were Ron Peduzzi, Head Football Coach, Hilton Head Prepartatory School; Jerry Faulkner, Assistant Headmaster for Student Development, Hilton Head Christian Academy; Jeremy West, Head Football Coach, Bluffton High School and Tim Singleton, Head Football Coach, Hilton Head High School   The speakers’ comments are presented in six parts by the Go Gated Blog as follows:

1. Fred Washington Jr,  Chairman, Beaufort County School Board .
2. Dr. Valerie Truesdale, Superintendent, Beaufort County Schools.
3. Mike Lindsey, Headmaster, Hilton Head Christian Academy.
4. Peter Cooper, Interim Headmaster, Hilton Head Preparatory School.
5. Questions from the audience and answers from the Panel.
6. The Coaches speak about student-athletes and character.  

Fred Washington Jr, Beaufort County School Board Chairman

A beaufort native, Fred Washington Jr. graduated from Robert Samlls High School in 1964 before entering Boston University to earn a B.A in psychology. From 1980 unitl 2007 he worked as the director of the Beaufort County Department of Social Services.  He is currently a member of the Beaufort County First Steps partnership Board and the Coastal Community Foundation Board (Chair, Beaufort Advisory Fund).   He has previously served on the Beaufort City Council and on the Boards of the Beaufort County Joint Planning Commission, Low Country Council of Governments, Technical College of the Lowcountry, United Communities for Child Development, Boys and Girls Club of the Lowcountry, Beaufort Housing Authority and the Greater Beaufort Chamber of Commerce.

  Beaufort County Schools are Better Every Day 

Fred Washington, Jr. Beaufort County School Board Chariman says, ”The state of our public schools in Beaufort County is better than it has been in the recent past and improving every day.  Public education in Beaufort County is provided by the Beaufort County School District, governed by an elected body of eleven 

Beaufort County School Board Chairman Fred Washington, Jr.

trustees and administered by an appointed Superintendant.  Within the past two years, six new members have been added to the Board of Education; coupled with five returning veterans, this new talented and diverse board has made a committment to put the learning and education of all our children first.  That must take priority over considerations of social and economic status, residency within tthe county, ethnicity, gender, race or political affilitation.  Our committment is reflected in our District’s belief statement.  Let me share four of those fourteen beliefs with you.

1. Every child can learn and be successful.
2. Every child has unique talents and skills. 
3. Every person in the organization contributes to the success of the children.
4. Beaufort County School District’s committment to the following will improve each child’s chance for a successful tuture, a) Placing the child at the center of all decision making.  b) Identifying and  addressing each individual child’s needs, c) Nuturing each child’s unique individual potential and d) Preparing all children to work and learn in a complex global society. 

Quality Instruction Addressed by Quality Leadership

How is Beaufort County School District addressiing quality instruction?  The Board initially addressed this through its decision to hire Dr. Valerie Truesdale, a Superintendent with a strong background with instruction and curriculum.  That is paramount.  You must have instructional leadership.  One of the things that this Board realized was that we faced certain critical decisions that permeate the rest of our system.  We think that we have to exercise good decision making skills and we have to have someone on the administration side who is that leader that can get everyone on board and can carry us in the right direction.  So we are very fortunate to have Dr Valerie Trusdale who is the President of the Association of  Supervision and Curriculum Development and who has international education credentials and experience.  We are addressing quality instruction by making sure that our leadership is of the highest quality.

The State Formula for School Funding is Not Equitable to Beaufort County

We do not belive that the present funding formula used by the State is fair and equitable to Beaufort County.  Therefore, we are continuing to work with our legislative delegation, County Council and Chambers of Commerce to advocate a change.  We know that most people perceive us as being rich and they think therefore we must not have any funding needs.  The realities are that we have needs in this county.  52% of our students receive free or reduced lunches.  There is poverty in this rich community that must be addressed.  The formula presently does not address that and it is not fair.  We need to work together to change that and we appreciate all that you have done to be partners in acheiving that.   

Proper Planning Based on Data and Processes

We are dealing with rapid growth by putting in systems and processes that will address needs based on data.  You have several representatives on Hilton Head Island who are advocates of systems and data processes and who will make decisions based on data.  So planning and having systems in place is important to address rapid growth.  We, with the leadership that we have in place now, have taken important steps to insure that proper planning is data driven and that we have the right people in the right places doing the right things.”  

Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge The Gated Community Specialist ® Go Gated Realty ® Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Rich@gogated.com www.GoGated.com 1-800-333-5025 Read Some of My Clients’ Success Stories