Wednesday | April 1, 2026
No self-driving allowed. There is no additional cost for tours, however, you MUST be registered for the conference to register for a tour.
Check-in at registration to obtain your badge before boarding the bus. Lunch will be served.
Tours depart from the hotel. Tour return is an estimate only.
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TOUR 1: FOUNTAIN INN HIGH SCHOOL AND ROPER MOUNTAIN CTE
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11:45 AM
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Meet Buses at Hotel
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12:00 PM
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Departure from Hotel
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4:30 PM
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Arrival Back at Hotel
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TOUR 2: ROPER MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CENTER AND REEDY LAUREL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
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12:30 PM
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Meet Buses at Hotel
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12:45 PM
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Departure from Hotel
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3:30 PM
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Arrival Back at Hotel
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Tour 1
Fountain Inn High School
With a robust advanced manufacturing industry in South Carolina’s Upstate, Greenville County Schools is helping to meet the growing demand for these jobs by housing an Institute for Automation and Engineering within the new Fountain Inn High School. The new program offers specialized training to prepare students for careers and advanced degrees. The first experience upon entering the school is a view into a high bay space where all the manufacturing and engineering programs are on display with state-of-the-art technology for CNC machining, robotics, metalworking, mechatronics, and engineering. This highly visible design updates current misconceptions about manufacturing with broad views of a clean, high-tech environment that encourages student enrollment in one of the many programs this comprehensive high school offers.
The new school, designed for 2,250 students features a project-based STEAM educational program coupled with an Advanced Manufacturing curriculum. By design, academic studios border central common areas to encourage collaboration, allowing teachers to maintain visual control of individuals or small groups working in the commons area. Multi-function roll-up doors offer expanded classroom space into the commons area, and movable walls between classrooms encourage team teaching.
Roper Mountain – CTE Innovation Center
The purpose of the Career Technical Education Innovation Center is to explore programs based on the needs of the state of South Carolina Sourcing local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce. The Center focuses on training students for upcoming career fields that may not yet exist or those fields where companies in the state are having difficulty finding talent.
The space is configured with maximum flexibility as the goal is to offer emerging programs that must first be tested and if successful, to then be pushed out to the other four Greenville County Schools Career Centers. The space can be outfitted with new industry programs as needs arise.
The hands-on spaces provide students with the opportunity to learn skills in up and coming career fields while honing the critical soft skills that businesses say are needed in their future workforces. Students taking honors courses are required to present to industry panels, creating a strong connection with industry experts! The CTE Innovation Center currently offers five unique programs for students including Aerospace Technology, Automation & Robotics, Clean Energy Technology, Emerging Automotive Research, and Networking/Cybersecurity.
Tour 2
Roper Mountain – Environmental Science Center
Roper Mountain Science Center (RMSC) is a nationally recognized, award-winning facility owned and operated by Greenville County Schools that serves as a shared resource for students and the broader community. RMSC engages learners through exciting hands-on, standards-based experiences in science and social studies designed to inspire curiosity, creativity and an appreciation for our shared history and the natural world. Each year, approximately 50,000 students participate in immersive field trip programs across multiple disciplines, while another 75,000 guests take part in public programming including summer camps, planetarium shows, and more. Roper Mountain faithfully demonstrates how place-based, experiential learning can support meaningful educational experiences for learners of all ages.
City of Greenville – Reedy Laurel Elementary School
Reedy Laurel Elementary is designed with intentionality in every detail fostering learning, collaboration, and community. A two-story classroom wing anchors the school, while carefully chosen furnishings help define flexible learning spaces throughout, including the media center, science labs, art room, and cafeteria, ensuring that each shared space supports the needs of all learners.
The Wet Lab and Tech Lab serve as the hubs of our earth science curriculum. These specialized spaces provide “context before content” by exposing students to grade-level material a semester in advance through inquiry-based learning. This approach ensures that every child develops meaningful background knowledge of key concepts before encountering them in their classroom instruction.
The outdoor environment is equally intentional. In front of the car drop-off area, an activity field with underground stormwater detention provides space for recreation while preserving the natural environment. The older trees that frame the field are the same ones that stood when this was the original J.L. Mann High School, offering a living link to the past. The campus also features a greenhouse and garden to extend hands-on science learning, as well as a playground sectioned off by grade levels, complete with a covered play area for all-weather use.
Every aspect of Reedy Laurel Elementary—from the flexible spaces inside to the learning opportunities outside—was designed to give all students a strong foundation, meaningful experiences, and a deep connection to the environment around them. Together, these elements embody our mission of
Planting the Seeds of Learning.