At the Lexington Four board meeting, members discussed progress with improvement plans, approved the 2025-26 school calendar and highlighted Sandhills Elementary School.

Sandhills Elementary Principal Marlon Smith, alongside other administrators, presented a report on the school’s growth.

Sandhills Elementary has partnered with several organizations, including University of Pennsylvania State College of Engineering, Project Raise Your Hand, Clemson University’s nutritional program, the University of South Carolina’s College of Education, Truist Bank and Sole Stepping.

Smith said Sandhills is the only school outside of Pennsylvania to partner with UPENN enginnering, a partnership enabling students to learn coding. The school also works with Project Raise Your Hand, which pairs students with mentors and tutors.

Clemon’s nutritional program teaches students healthy eating habits, while USC’s College of Education allows students to complete student-teaching assignments at Sandhills. Smith noted that two teachers from USC’s program have been hired by the school.

Truist Bank and Sole Stepping provide free shoes for all students.

Sandhills has also shown academic improvement. In the S.C. Ready ELA assessment, 41% of students met or exceeded expectations, compared to just 18% in the 2020-21 school year.

In the math assessment, 40% of students met or exceeded expectations, compared to just 13% in the 2020-21 school year.

In other news

Lexington County School District Four schools have been classified as “underperforming” and must submit a strategic plan with short-term goals and action plans for each school by January. According to the South Carolina Department of Education, this plan can help schools achieve rapid improvement.

The district was placed in Tier 3 support by the state education department and assigned a transformative coach. The coach will work with the district to foster innovation, collaborate with stakeholders and provide expert support at the state level.

Superintendent Justin Nutter told board members and the community that the assigned coach has already visited schools and will meet with administrators to share their findings and discuss the next steps.

The board of trustees will also be presented with a strategic plan for the district and schools. If approved, it will be submitted to the South Carolina Department of Education for final approval. Once approved by the DOE, schools will begin implementing the plan.

The school board also approved the 2025-26 school year calendar. Like neighboring districts, the calendar includes six professional days before students return, a full week off for Thanksgiving, professional days and breaks at the end of each quarter, 11 professional days with schools (with changes to meet specific needs) and the first semester ending in December. The school year will end before June.

The next school board meeting will be on Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lexington Four Administrative Office, located at 607 E. Fifth St. in Swansea.