Clarendon School District Three
By: Cindy Risher
Dr. Connie Dennis is the Superintendent of Clarendon School District Three. District Three’s vision statement is as follows: “Here at Clarendon Three it is our vision to see every student graduate with the knowledge and skills to be successful in their endeavors, whether that is post-secondary education or entering the workforce. Our schools strive to provide high quality education for all students, focusing on academics and student learning in order to prepare them to succeed in an ever changing world.”
Most of Dennis’ career has been spent in Clarendon School District Three. She began her career teaching at Walker Gamble Elementary in the late seventies and taught grades levels 2-4 for fourteen years; she then went on to serve as principal at Walker Gamble for 7 years. She then went to Clarendon School District Two for about 7 years to serve as the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. She later returned to Clarendon Three in 2008 to assume the Superintendent position and has been there ever since. Dennis received her undergraduate degree in Education and Master’s in Education from Francis Marion. She continued on and earned three more degrees, including a PhD, from The University of South Carolina.
Clarendon Three has two schools that include Walker Gamble Elementary, located in New Zion, and East Clarendon Middle/High School located in the heart of Turbeville. The middle school grades are located on one end of the building and the high school on the other end. The two schools meet in the middle where they share a media center and cafeteria. The total student population for the district is just over 1,200 students.
The school board meets on the second Tuesday of the month. All 7 board members are elected to staggered 4 year terms. Current board members include: Board Chairman Jason Newsome, Board Vice-Chairman George Frierson, and other Board Members Ellis Evans, John Hardy, Dale McKenzie, Norma Reardon and Ron Wingard.
One thing Dennis is very proud of is their arts program. Dennis clarified, “This program was a casualty to funding cuts several years back but had a limited return last year and is a growing program this year. The district now boasts two full time art teachers and one full time floating music teacher with hopes of adding more arts related classes and teachers next year.” This past December included a district wide Christmas program. Dennis says they are looking forward to some new community wide programs for the upcoming spring.
The school buildings have some unique and colorful murals in the hallways that students painted with adult supervision. The district hosted an art summer camp the past two summers that included classes on mural painting, pottery and basket weaving. Dennis stated that “the 3 week camp was was paid for with district funds that were budgeted for just this purpose. No grant money was used.”
Currently the Elementary School staff and administrators are participating in Collective Leadership, which is a new initiative, designed to enhance teaching and administrative skills. Dennis stressed that this initiative “will directly impact the quality of education our students are receiving.” Other curriculum highlights include The Read To Succeed Initiative and Professional Learning Communities in both schools where the administrators work with their teachers to reinforce best teaching practices in their classrooms.
