LEXINGTON, S.C. — Lexington County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state--so much so, last year, Lexington Middle and Pleasant Hill Middle School were bursting at the seams with students.
A fix to the overcrowding is the new Beechwood Middle School. It's in its inaugural year in a state-of-the-art facility.
News 19 wanted to learn more about the new school, which is fitted with technology of the future. We also wanted to identify the oldest school in the Midlands and learn more about the history behind it.
We begin in the 1300 block of Highway 378 in Lexington at the newest school in the Midlands: Beechwood Middle School.
Every morning, a news show made up of 12 reporters sets the tone for the day.
The audio operator and technical director are behind the camera while two reporters deliver the news.
"It's just a place where it feels so 21st century that students rise to that occasion," said Beechwood Middle School Principal, Gloria Jenkinson.
Beechwood Middle a 196,000 square foot facility with over 900 students and the latest technology tools for the classroom.
"More than just the regular computer screen, the one computer in the classroom as a station or as a resource or the regular chalkboards or dry erase boards that we had in the past, students are now owning their learning," said Jenkinson. "So it's much more self-directed and they are actually creators of products versus just consumers."
On top of Programming, Innovation and STEM Lab classes, Beechwood has a partnership with Code to the Future.
Code to the Future is an immersion program with the mission of bringing code to all students. Students start the computer science program at the elementary level.
"Kids are creating amazing things using scratch, using Arduinos, using web development and a lot of things that really before this partnership and before Beechwood, the technology we've been given by our district was just unheard of," said Jenkinson. "It's not just about taking in knowledge and taking notes. It's about acquiring knowledge to be able to produce with it and make the world a better place essentially."
As you walk in the main entrance of the school, a coding theme greets you with the library windows to your right. They're built in to look like binary code.
Beechwood is also equipped with added security features, like automatically closing classroom doors and secured entry glass.
2019 is a year of firsts at Beechwood Middle. It's the first time creating webpages in the classrooms, using robotics like a 3D printer to make something new, and the first time yearbook students will capture memories made in the hallways.
"Whether it's because it's new, or whether it's because we have an amazing facility with amazing technology resources, it's the collaborative spirit that exists here at Beechwood that I think is the heart of what we do," said Jenkinson.
Students at Beechwood Middle feed into Lexington High School.
"They've got to make Beechwood theirs," said Jenkinson. "It's not like they're coming into something that's already established. They have the opportunity to bring that student voice and student choice into everything we do every day."
Just 12 minutes down the road from Beechwood sits the oldest school in the Midlands. Also part of Lexington County School District One is Gilbert Elementary School.
"This campus is an amazing campus. It has so much rich history and tradition and things that have been passed down that's really a part of people's lives and the DNA in this community," said Heath Branham, Principal of Gilbert Elementary School.
Portions of Gilbert Elementary date back to 1932.
"This campus, as the previous principal - and he's now a board member - Tim Oswald would say, 'There's the Eisenhower building. There's the Truman building.' He basically is saying there's a lot of buildings here built in a different decade," said Branham. "It's much like a patchwork quilt that's been preserved and tells a story. Each building on this campus has unique stories."
Principal Branham says the campus used to be Gilbert High School. Before that, it was a K-12 school.
In 2002, as more schools began popping up in the area, the campus became Gilbert Elementary with 750 students, grades 3 through 5.
"This community and this school has been able to adapt and change to the needs of this community for a century," said Branham.
The older buildings were either demolished or refurbished and renovated multiple times. The cafeteria and arts wing were built in the 1990s.
Principal Branham's office, where we did our interview, is from the 1950's. In fact, his office used to be part of the school cafeteria.
At Gilbert Elementary, they have on average three students to one computer.
They're equipped with chrome books and iPads, and at the 5th grade level, they have one Chromebook for every student.
"Technology is an amazing tool, but it doesn't replace the teacher," said Branham. "It doesn't replace the person who's making decisions in real time about what motivates and inspires a child, or if a child has a miscue when reading, or when there's an error in a math algorithm or problem."
Branham says teachers at Gilbert Elementary are strategic in how often they use technology in the classroom. Screen time varies at each grade level.
"Kids do research on it, they do group collaborative projects on it, they do group presentations, but it doesn't become the nucleus of our lessons or our school," said Branham. "It becomes a tool, just like other tools we have, to get kids to reach high levels of learning."
"We would not go to a doctor that's practicing with technology from 20 years ago, or best practices from 20 years ago," said Branham. "So we should not expect any less from our schools."
In his career in education, Branham worked with South Carolina schools struggling to meet state requirements. He was involved with the organization Edison Learning, where he partnered with the State Department of Education and the turnaround division to help schools succeed.
He worked with Marlboro County schools and helped districts across the country.
"I spent several years working in Clarendon 1 in Summerton at Scott's Branch Middle School," said Branham. "Physical resources are an issue in parts of our state. Human resources are even more so now than ever. I would contend that yes, it is salary, it is how a teacher is compensated. They deserve that, and more. But it is equally the working conditions in which we work."
Just like Beechwood Middle is making history this year, 2019 is also a historic year for Gilbert Elementary. It's their farewell tour, meaning it's their final year using the facility as an elementary school.
That's because they're opening a new state-of-the-art campus for the 2020-2021 school year on Highway 1 in Gilbert named Centerville Elementary.
The new campus will be built in practically the same spot as the original Centerville Elementary, which used to be an old two-room schoolhouse in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
The name Gilbert Elementary will return back to its original school, currently known as Gilbert Primary, and will be a K-5 school.
"It's a bittersweet time, but we want to honor the past and also look forward to our future," said Branham.
The future of the current building is still up in the air. We're told the facility will be repurposed, but district officials are still trying to figure out what it will become.
Funding for renovating or building new schools is raised on the local level, generally through bond referendums. Smaller projects are done with existing funds with help from the local tax base, and normally don't need bond referendums.