More kids, more tech: What’s new as Columbia-area schools open this week

More than 100,000 students return to Midlands public schools this week, along with more than 9,000 teachers and a few new buildings, policies and perks.

Every South Carolina school district will be adapting to the new 10-point grading scale required for all high school courses, though some districts will be using the new scale in lower grades, too.

The Midlands’ three largest school districts – Richland 2, Richland 1 and Lexington 1 – continue to grow rapidly. Some local districts continue the trend of increasing take-home technology available to students, while a pair of districts look forward to opening new career and technology centers to enhance students’ classroom opportunities.

Here’s a snapshot of each of the region’s eight public school districts and what’s new for them this school year.

Richland 1

Projected enrollment: 23,809, compared to 23,289 in 2015-16 (+520)

Number of schools: 52

Number of teachers: 2,159

Number of other staff members: 2,147

What’s new this year:

Language Immersion Program – Classes for 120 pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students will be taught half in English, half in Spanish or Mandarin Chinese in this new program hosted at Carver-Lyon Elementary. The program will expand one grade level each year through fifth grade.

Digital learning – Each student in third through 12th grades will start the school year with personal laptops.

New leadership – Twelve schools have new principals: Caughman Road Elementary, Carver-Lyon Elementary, Hyatt Park Elementary, Pine Grove Elementary, South Kilbourne Elementary, Watkins-Nance Elementary, Alcorn Middle, Hand Middle, Southeast Middle, W.A. Perry Middle, Eau Claire High and Lower Richland High.

Richland 2

Projected enrollment: 27,823, compared to 27,462 in 2015-16 (+362)

Number of schools: 40

Number of teachers: 1,799

Number of other staff members: 1,810

What’s new this year:

Institute of Innovation – Also known as R2i2, this new facility at the Village at Sandhill will house a range of innovative career- and technology-oriented classes, as well as new district offices and, soon, a Richland Library branch. Students based at all five high schools will attend classes at R2i2 beginning Monday, Aug. 22.

Free COMET rides – The district has partnered with the Midlands transit system, The COMET, to provide free bus passes for students to be used any time, any day. Students must get a parent permission form signed during orientation or add The COMET Pass when paying fees online.

Lexington 1

Projected enrollment: 24,913, compared to 24,420 in 2015-16 (+493)

Number of schools: 30

Number of teachers: 2,013

Number of other staff members: 1,604

Lexington 2

Projected enrollment: 8,729, compared to 8,640 in 2015-16 (+89)

Number of schools: 16

Number of teachers: 683

Number of other staff members: 425

What’s new this year:

Mobile technology – Each student in kindergarten through 12th grades will begin the school year with a personal mobile technology device, culminating the three-year process of providing one-to-one technology to all students.

Early college – Airport High launched its first class of Early College Cohort this summer. Students began taking their first two of 21 college courses on their way to earning an Associate of Arts and Sciences Degree through Midlands Tech. At midterm, all 17 students had earned at least an A or A/B in their classes.

Ongoing construction – Work is being done on athletic facilities at Airport High School. Congaree Elementary’s cafeteria is being expanded. Brookland-Cayce High’s I-2 Tech learning space is being expanded. In September, additions will begin at Pine Ridge Middle and Congaree-Wood Early Childhood Center. A new elementary school, scheduled to open next fall, is under construction on 12th Street Extension in Cayce. The new district Career and Technology Center will open in spring 2018. Several schools have ongoing routine painting, roofing, fencing and HVAC work. All these are part of a $225 million package of improvements approved by voters in 2014.

Lexington 3

Projected enrollment: 2,053, compared to 2,021 in 2015-16 (+32)

Number of schools: 4

Number of teachers: 141

Number of other staff members: 192

What’s new this year:

Young journalists – Batesburg-Leesville Elementary launches a “School of Journalism” that will expose students to careers in digital, print and television media.

Rosetta Stone – Primary and elementary students will use Rosetta Stone to learn foreign languages, starting with Spanish offered to students at Batesburg-Leesville Primary and five languages available for students to study during their computer lab time at Batesburg-Leesville Elementary.

Morning programs – Batesburg-Leesville Primary will offer Homework Haven from 7:15-7:45 a.m. for students to get homework assistance from an adult. And the Breakfast Club will provide activities such as coding, games and Spanish learning for students who arrive to school early.

Early college credits – Batesburg-Leesville High begins its e21College program for sophomores to earn college credits at the same time as they earn high school credits.

Lexington 4

Projected enrollment: 3,591, compared to 3,476 in 2015-16 (+115)

Number of schools: 7

Number of teachers: 213

Number of other staff members: 238

What’s new this year:

More Montessori – The program expands to fifth and sixth grades.

Chromebooks – All students in third through 12th grades will have personal Google Chromebook laptops.

Upcoming vote – A referendum will come up for vote on Nov. 8 seeking approval for $25.4 million in improvements to Swansea High, including renovations to athletic facilities and a new performing arts center.

Lexington-Richland 5

Projected enrollment: 17,174, compared to 16,977 in 2015-16 (+197)

Number of schools: 22

Number of teachers: about 1,300

Number of other staff members: about 1,200

What’s new this year:

Renovations – Several schools had major work done over the summer, including classroom improvements, technology upgrades, parking lot upgrades, HVAC work and painting and flooring projects. But for the first time in three years, no new schools are opening.

Kershaw County

Projected enrollment: 10,424, compared to 10,376 in 2015-16 (+48)

Number of schools: 20

Number of teachers: 726

Number of other staff members: 545

What’s new this year:

STEM expands – More STEM/engineering programs will be provided at secondary schools. And Project Lead the Way will equip middle school students with computer programming skills.

More technology – All students in grades three through 12 will have personal technology devices.

Healthier – A school-based health clinic expands from North Central High to also serve North Central Middle students. It is a partnership with LiveWell Kershaw and the USC School of Medicine.

Free tuition for grads – Seniors who graduated in 2016 were the first class to be guaranteed two years of free tuition at Central Carolina Technical College. This program continues for students who have earned at least a 2.0 high school GPA and pass the CCTC placement exam.

This story was originally published August 13, 2016 at 3:42 PM with the headline "More kids, more tech: What’s new as Columbia-area schools open this week."