Popular nature preserve offers classes for A/B ‘off day’ students

FORT MILL, S.C. — School will be a very different experience for students when they go back in a few weeks. For most, classes won’t be every day and some will only be on campus two days a week.

That’s led to concerns from working parents and stay-at-home parents alike about making sure their kids are productive on their non-class days.

The Fort Mill School District is partnering with the Anne Springs Close Greenway to help ease parents’ concerns a bit. Lindsey Arnautovic is operations director at the Greenway. She’ll oversee the new Greenway Discovery School.

A mix of in-class learning time and outdoor adventure means a lot of time will be focused on making sure students get their school work done.

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“They’ll be assigned school work the day before they’re in school. Then, they’ll come to us and work on that within their different academic blocks,” she said.

The program is aimed at 6th through 8th graders only because in Fort Mill, elementary students will be in class the full five days a week.

The point of hosting middle schoolers out at Fort Mill’s well-known, 2,000 acre nature preserve isn’t only for class work. There’s also plenty of time for fun.

Electives will be offered depending on the interests of students. They could include mountain biking, kayaking on the secluded lakes, ecology and cultural studies and more will be added such as art and music.

The Greenway Discovery School runs from August 31st to November 24th and could be extended into next semester, depending on what’s happening in the schools at that time.

There is a $50 registration fee and the cost for the program is $120 a week. Financial assistance is available.

Parents can still sign up on the ASC Greenway website, but as of Thursday about 60 of roughly 100 slots were already filled.

The director said social distancing won’t be as big of a concern at the Greenway as it would be in the classroom. But the program will follow CDC guidelines, just like the school district would.

“All students coming in, they’ll have to get their temperature checked before they enter the building, staff as well. In addition to that, just lots of extra cleaning, sanitization and hand-washing,” Arnautovic said.

The goal is to provide structure and a safe learning environment for students who would otherwise be at home, focusing on the needs of Fort Mill families and their children.

‘We want to make sure that we’re not only meeting the social, emotional, recreational needs of the students, but also the academic needs,” Arnautovic said.

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