Blythe Academy became the pioneer in immersion education in our state in 1996 by standing firmly on the belief that a second language gives students a distinct advantage in college and career readiness, and that elementary children are capable of learning in a second language. Being selected by the Spanish Embassy to become South Carolina’s only International Spanish Academy School has given Blythe new opportunities in terms of professional development, instructional resources, and international teacher acquisition.
The district’s only foreign language magnet school, Blythe Academy offers partial immersion programs in French and Spanish, teaching math, science, and health in the target languages to 80% of our students. Our vision is that students achieve academic success, bilingual and bi-literate proficiency, and multicultural competency.
Blythe has received many recognitions for the strength of our programs. These include Palmetto Gold Awards for overall performance and closing the achievement gap in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015; Palmetto Silver Awards for student achievement in 2009, 2010, and 2011; State Report Card ratings of Excellent 2011-2014; and International Spanish Academy School of the Year, 2013. Blythe was also named a finalist for the SC Palmetto's Finest Award in 2019. The Blythe PTA has been awarded the National PTA School of Excellence recognition three times. Blythe has been recognized as a Safe Schools Award Winner since 2011, and has received a district level award for improving safety for students and staff members within our building.
The Greenville community recognizes and appreciates the rigor of Blythe's academic and immersion programs. Magnet applications are high in number and there is a wait list for both Spanish and French programs every year. Approximately 50% of our student population is magnet, meaning that families outside of our attendance area have chosen this school because of the immersion programs. State School Report Card Surveys show consistently show high levels of parent, student, and teacher satisfaction with the learning environment. The addition of the ACTFL AAPPL testing for language acquisition in 2015 continues to prove that our students are consistently exceeding the district’s language proficiency goal for elementary students in all tested areas, as well as scoring strong in academic areas.
Our immersion program is strongly aligned with the State Profile of the SC Graduate, and our district’s Graduation Plus initiatives. Proficiency in a second language gives our students a college and career readiness advantage. Our students who continue their immersion studies in middle school are eligible to enter high school with two Carnegie units already earned in foreign language, and graduate from high school with earned college credit.
Our mission is to work together with stakeholders to teach our students the knowledge, skills, and strategies needed to become productive and responsible citizens in an ever-changing global society through instruction that includes language immersion education in French and Spanish.
At Blythe Academy, students will achieve academic success, bilingual and bi-literate proficiency, and multicultural competency.
The purpose of Blythe Academy of Languages is to ensure that academic achievement is its top priority, and to collaborate with home and community to achieve educational excellence.