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The DJJ School District
DJJ operates a special school district with fully accredited academic programs, serving approximately 900 students in grades 4-12 each day. All juveniles in the care of the DJJ attend school while detained or incarcerated.
DJJ's school district and schools function just like other school districts and schools in South Carolina - with a district superintendent, principals, teachers, directors, and program coordinators. However, DJJ's schools differ from other South Carolina schools in several ways:
§ Schools are in session year-round (enabling students to make up absences and close learning gaps).
§ DJJ's school district has no local tax base, relying exclusively on state (EFA is calculated at 70%) and federal funding.
§ Classes are geared to meet the individual needs of each student.
The DJJ school district is responsible for all educational programs operated by the agency, including those in private vendor programs and alternative school sites in community residential placement facilities.
The Division of Educational Services includes the following functions:
School Supervision and Operations
Career and Technology Education (CATE)
Professional Development and Federal Programs
Student Accountability Systems
School Supervision and Operations
Special Education Services
Juveniles committed to DJJ can earn either a high school diploma or a GED. DJJ's school district also offers students 10 CATE courses, extensive special education services, the nation's first Army JROTC and Communities in Schools (CIS) programs in a juvenile correctional facility setting, media centers, career development centers, and guidance counselors.
The following schools and school sites are supervised by DJJ's school district. All are fully accredited:
Birchwood High School : Located at the Broad River Road Complex in Columbia, this is a comprehensive high school offering male and female students in grades 9 through 12 a variety of CATE and academic courses. This school has the nation's first Army JROTC located inside a correctional setting. Birchwood may offer dual credit through the Technical College System and consistently offers a variety of CATE classes, including:
Graphic Communications
Horticulture
Personal Finance
Digital Desktop Publishing
Keyboarding
Culinary Arts
Parenting Education
Accounting
Brick Masonry
Welding
Birchwood Middle School: Located at the Broad River Road Institution in Columbia, this school serves male and female juveniles in grades 6 through 8. Curriculum offerings include art, career appreciation, language arts, math, physical education, science, and social studies.
WIllow Lane School Programs: This area comprises the Community Residence Placements and Alternative Programs that are managed by private providers.
A DJJ school principal provides programmatic supervision and monitors compliance of these programs. All transcripts are prepared by a DJJ guidance counselor and all Carnegie units are awarded by the DJJ school district. These programs include: Camp Aspen by Community Education Centers, Inc.; AMIkids Bennettsville; AMIkids Sand Hills, AMIkids White Pines; AMIkids Piedmont; AMIkids Beaufort; and AMIkids Georgetown; Youth Development Center at Camp Long by Clemson University Youth Learning Institute; and South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy by the South Carolina National Guard.
Regional Evaluation Centers/Detention Center: Juveniles, by law, are required to continue their education when they are sent to one of DJJ's three regional evaluation centers or our pre-trial Detention Center in Columbia. The curriculum at these centers is aligned with the South Carolina Curriculum Standards and is designed to maintain the juveniles' eligibility for required attendance and credits towards promotion and graduation.
Currently, DJJ's three regional evaluation centers include the Coastal Evaluation Center in Ridgeville; the Midlands Evaluation Center in Columbia; and the Upstate Evaluation Center in Union. The educational component in the regional evaluation centers serves both the family court (in its efforts to evaluate juveniles) and the students themselves.
For More Information
SCDJJ School District2010 School Board Meeting Minutes (pdf)
2010 Mandatory Furlough Proposal 1 (pdf)
2010 One Year Suspension of Salary Step Increases Proposal 2 (pdf)
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Certificate Renewal Plan
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JROTC Program: Established in 1993 as the nation’s first Junior ROTC Program in a juvenile correctional setting, DJJ's JROTC program serves both boy's and girls at DJJ's Birchwood School in Columbia. The mission of the program is to “motivate young people to become better citizens” and teach leadership, discipline, and life skills that will serve students throughout their high school and adult lives.
DJJ's JROTC program has won "Honor Unit With Distinction" honors many times since its inception and each year, JROTC cadets make up a high percentage of high school graduates and GED recipients at DJJ.
The program is a cooperative effort between DJJ’s school district and the U.S. Army.
DJJ's Communities in Schools (CIS) Program: Communities in Schools is a national program that educates struggling, at-risk youth by providing a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult, a safe place to learn and grow, and a marketable skill upon graduation. Juveniles in DJJ's CIS program attend class in their living unit and at Birchwood School. Male students in the program even live in their own dormitory on DJJ's Birchwood campus in Columbia.
South Carolina was the first state to use the national CIS program in a juvenile correctional setting, launching the program at DJJ in 1991. The program and its instructors have won several awards in the years since, creating one of DJJ's finest educational programs.
A unique part of DJJ's CIS is "The Insiders," a select group of students who travel throughout South Carolina, encouraging troubled children and promoting community awareness of the prevalence and consequences of juvenile crime. These young leaders have committed themselves to serving others by telling personal stories of the choices that led to their incarceration. The Insiders have become sought-after speakers around the state, and their speaking engagements are booked many months in advance.
Career and Technology Education (CATE)
The focus of career education is to develop a system that is structured for all students. This system integrates schools and workplaces, academic and career and technology learning, and secondary and post-secondary education and links educators, students, parents, and business leaders. It provides students with both academic and industry workplace skills, which are recognized and portable. Career education includes:
§ A rigorous, relevant academic curriculum.
§ Collaboration among employers, schools, colleges, universities, and agencies.
§ Career interest assessment, exploration, and preparation.
DJJ partners with Midlands Technical College to update, improve, and expand the district's CATE programs. DJJ's school district offers students 10 career and technology courses with supporting career development activities:
Graphic Communications
Horticulture
Personal Finance
Digital Desktop Publishing
Keyboarding
Culinary Arts
Parenting Education
Accounting
Brick Masonry
Welding
Other educational/work programs offered by the agency’s school district are
School-to-Work -- A challenging academic and CATE curricula; career exploration and counseling initiatives; teachers trained to link classroom learning to the world of work, apprenticeships, and mentorships.
Youth Industries Program -- A cooperative effort between business and government. In February 1998, DJJ was registered with the United States Department of Labor as an Apprenticeship Program site. This program allows juveniles committed to DJJ to learn a trade. Participating juveniles also earn wages to make victim restitution payments, child support payments, and to put aside money for reentry into their communities.
Facility Work Program -- This program provides an opportunity for juveniles to help facilitate their transitions from incarceration to their communities. Each long-term facility at DJJ provides the opportunity for a meaningful work experience for all juveniles in an organized, supervised work program that affords juveniles opportunities for at least two hours participation per day in constructive and physical work activity.
Special Education Services
Special Education services are provided for juveniles with disabilities in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). All juveniles with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their individual needs and to prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living. Juveniles may also receive services and accommodations through an ADA/504 plan.
Professional Development and Federal Programs
Teachers, counselors, and media specialists at DJJ are employed for a total of 235 days during the school year, 5 of which must be devoted to professional development. Each teacher, counselor, and media specialist must develop a minimum of 3 goals for the enhancement of their professional development. These goals must be completed within a 3-year evaluation cycle.
The Department of Juvenile Justice School District (DJJ) receives federal funding from the Title I, Part A program of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Title I Part D, Subpart 1 program for Children and Youth who are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk. These funds are to be utilized to improve the educational services for children and youth in local and state institutions so that these children and youth will have the same opportunity to meet the same challenging State academic content standards and challenging State student academic achievement standards that all children in the State are expected to meet. The Title I program at DJJ consists of one long term facility, Birchwood school, three Evaluation Center schools and one Detention Center school. The Measures of Academic Progress(MAP) and the California Achievement Tests, Fifth Edition(CAT-5) are utilized for measuring student progress in these Title I programs.
Student Accountability Systems
The primary purpose of DJJ's Student Accountability System is to classify each student into one of the pupil classifications described in the Education Finance Act (EFA). The South Carolina Pupil Accounting System is designed to provide the South Carolina Department of Education with average daily membership reports to support the EFA.
The coordinator of Student Accountability Systems serves as the coordinator for all pupil accounting software needs, correspondence, newsletters, periodicals, and for the statewide electronic bulletin board sent to selected audience(s) throughout the school district of DJJ. The coordinator of Student Accountability Systems also supervises attendance reporting for all schools in the district.
South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability or age.
THE FOLLOWING OFFICES HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED TO HANDLE INQUIRIES REGARDING THE NONDISCRIMINATON POLICIES:
Title IX –Inspector General’s Office – 803-896-9595
Title II & 504 – Special Education Office – 803-896-8484
South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice
4900 Broad River Road
Columbia SC, 29212-3552
Telephone: 803-896-9749The South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability or age. THE FOLLOWING OFFICES HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED TO HANDLE INQUIRIES REGARDING THE NONDISCRIMINATON POLICIES: Title IX -- Inspector General's Office -- 803-896-9595 Title II & 504 -- Special Education Office -- 803-896-8484.
