• Category 1

    Selected in 2023

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 2,879
    Student Enrollment: 318
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 63%
    White/Caucasian: 24%
    Hispanic: 4%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 9%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:11
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 4%
    Founded: 1953
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Monique Smalls
  • CONTACT:
    1071 Elko Street
    Williston, SC 29853
    803-266-3737
    msmalls@bccsd.net
Kelly Edwards Elementary School
Williston, SC
Data drives every decision made that impacts students.
1. Tell us about your school’s success.
Kelly Edwards Elementary School is a turnaround school whose students have achieved uncommon success in recent years. Following years of substandard performance, Kelly Edwards received an excellent rating for two consecutive years beginning with the 2021-2022 school year. In the first year, Kelly Edwards scored highest in the area of student progress. After one year of strengthening the MTSS process and strategically working with teachers on lesson planning and delivery, students at Kelly Edwards experience astronomical growth. In the 2021-2022 students performing in the bottom 20% grew at a pace that surpassed the state’s average by almost 30%. Overall student growth surpassed the state’s average by more than 30. In the 2021-2022 school year, the school received an average rating in the area of student achievement. This area’s ranking improved to excellent this year as Kelly Edwards Elementary School students surpassed the state’s average in reading and math.
2. Talk about the greatest contributing factor(s) that promoted positive change in your school.
Principal Smalls’ tenure began with a systematic restructuring and alignment of curricular resources, strengthening the Multi-tiered Systems of Support process, the development and deployment of an innovative lesson planning structure, and creating a predictable structure for Professional Learning Communities. These changes combined to strengthen the quality of instruction and intervention practices.
3. How has ESEA funding supported the school's success?
ESEA funding has helped our school's provide quality, scientifically proven curricula and supplemental materials for our students. We currently have a state of the art STEM lab, a LU, and instructional materials to ensure out students' success.
4. What professional development activities were used to improve teaching and learning?
Teachers collaborate weekly with peers and administrators in Professional Learning Communities. Teachers attend these meetings either as a grade level (K-3), or departmentalized (4-5,SPED). These meetings follow a predictable process with the aim of discussing student data and strategizing instructional strategies that have proven successful. Teachers in both General Education and Special Education are required to bring in a requested data piece each week for the discussion. These meetings are highly productive and educators and educational leaders from across the state and district regularly visit and observe the PLCs. The successful format has been duplicated in other schools across the state. Professional Learning Communities at Kelly Edwards Elementary School are highly collaborative and produce several positive outcomes for student learning. Collaboration does not end after PLCs; these meetings help to nurture a culture of collaboration throughout the entire school.
5. Talk about the cultural shift leading up to your school's success.
Kelly Edwards Elementary has shifted to be a school fully driven by data. Data drives every decision made that impacts students.
Teachers are respected and treated as professionals who can interpret data and make instructional decisions to support their students. Principal Smalls has an open door policy where teachers feel welcomed to enter and share concerns respectfully.
6. How has community involvement strengthened your success?
From the outset, the Kelly Edwards School was a pillar within the black community, built in 1954 to replace the previous school serving the town’s black students, Williston Colored School. When schools were mandated to integrate in 1970 and thereafter, Kelly Edwards became the elementary school to serve youth of all races in the conjoined towns of Williston and Elko. Deep memory continues of the segregated K-12 school as local residents continue each year during the new school’s Homecoming festivities to celebrate graduates of Kelly Edwards who matriculated prior to its integration. As such, Kelly Edwards continues to be a pillar within the community of Williston receiving the support of community leaders, alumni, and the town's churches.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2023

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: rural
    Town Population: 2,879
    Student Enrollment: 318
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 63%
    White/Caucasian: 24%
    Hispanic: 4%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 9%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:11
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 4%
    Founded: 1953
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Monique Smalls
  • CONTACT:
    1071 Elko Street
    Williston, SC 29853
    803-266-3737
    msmalls@bccsd.net