Pike County’s Portrait of a Graduate consists of five core competencies that we view are vital competencies for a student’s success in college, in their career, and and in their overall lives. This portrait serves as the District’s “North Star” with regards to how we structure our curriculum; students must be able to think critically, solve creatively, communicate clearly, and collaborate effectively.
Employers are more concerned with what new employees can do, not what they know. The ubiquitous nature of technology and the rapid pace of innovation creates a condition whereby those who can think and learn independently will thrive.
Pike County focuses on student work that requires inquiry and value beyond school. Our High School STEM program challenges students to develop solutions using science, technology, engineering and mathematics to solve real-world problems.
How does one collaborate if they cannot communicate? Pike County recognizes that effective teamwork and collaboration first starts with effective communication. We teach our students how to interact positively in order to foster positive results.
Whether it's a text message, Email, or in-person, the ability to effectively leverage a wide array of communication tools is increasingly more important in the workplace. We expose students to as many platforms and styles for communication as possible to facilitate their learning in this area.
Pike County equips students with positive thinking habits and the ethics of responsibility beginning in pre-school. Employers indicate personal responsibility is highly coveted in an increasingly remote workforce where personnel have limited oversight and increased independence.
The US Department of Labor states that today’s students will average 10-14 jobs by the age of 38. And, the demand for workers to complete repetitive routine tasks has decreased exponentially due to automation, digitizing, and off-shoring. Students will be, by and large, employed to do jobs involving non-routine tasks, complex thinking, and enhanced communication. In fact, the top-ten most in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. In essence, we are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we aren’t aware of yet.
Preparing students for life beyond school has never been more challenging, as today’s students must be equipped with skills to navigate a dynamic and rapidly changing world. Regardless of whether you philosophically believe the mission of schools is to produce employable workers, responsible citizens, or both, we can all agree that students who can think critically, problem solve creatively, communicate clearly, and collaborate effectively are better prepared than the students who memorized volumes of loosely connected factual information only to discard it immediately after a test.
Pike County continues to refine our professional learning and curriculum revision so we can deliver high quality instruction focusing on critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. Today, we are in the process of refining and defining the most important knowledge and skills in the Georgia Standards for Excellence so students can engage learning deeply through inquiry. Educating our children must be more than simply telling them what to think; we must teach them HOW to think. Students must be given opportunities to make meaning and discover understandings in all content areas.
Pike County Primary School is situated just off Highway 19 South in Zebulon, Georgia. Our building houses all Pike County students in kindergarten through second grade. Each grade level averages about 220 students. We have 33 classroom teachers with the support of 21 paraprofessionals.
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