Florence School District 1 focuses on facilities, students, funding

FLORENCE — With more than 2,200 staff members working to educate more than 15,000 students at 21 schools, Florence School District 1 is striving to give the best education and learning environment possible for all students.

New schools, a new Healthy Schools Initiative and several grants are among the ways Florence 1 is accomplishing this goal.

In October, the Florence 1 Board of Trustees announced plans to build three new schools in the district in three phases, beginning with a facility to relieve overcrowding at Delmae Heights and Carver elementary schools, which have been relying on mobile classrooms. One hundred eighty-two mobile units are used at 20 schools in the district, raising safety concerns.

“The biggest problem is that these separate classrooms make security a problem for our schools,” said Pam Little-McDaniel, the district’s director of public information.

Many of the buildings in Forence 1 are beyond repair.

“The new facilities are long overdue,” Little-McDaniel said. “We have some aging facilities and in order for us to provide the best possible environment for our students we are going to need to update our buildings.”

In the second phase of the plans, a new Moore Intermediate School will be built on a site between Hoffmeyer and Old Ebenezer roads, followed by a new North Vista and new Royall.

In the meantime, the district has taken steps to address the wellness of its student body through the Healthy School Initiative. Already, Florence 1 has changed items available in vending machines at all schools, having switched to only water, diet sodas, light juices and sports drinks several years ago. At the start of the 2009-2010 school year, Florence 1 middle and high school made changes to the vending snack machines, as well. Now the machines may only carry snacks that have no more that 200 calories, contain less than 35 percent fat and have no more that 35 percent sugar in their ingredients.

“What we are trying to do is our part in preventing childhood obesity,” Little-McDaniel said.

Events such as Southside Middle School’s Wellness and Fitness night are also helping to promote a more active lifestyle to the families in Florence 1.

Grants acquired through the hard work of teachers and The School Foundation also are making a difference in the district.

The School Foundation, which promotes educational excellence in Florence School District 1 through grants for innovative and high-impact programs designed to benefit all children, distributed more than $50,000 to Florence 1 in 2009-2010. The largest grant went to creating a program called “Math Masters of the Pee Dee” for third-graders throughout the district. Other smaller grants fund such projects as the “Lester’s Let’s Move, Let’s Swing, Let’s Learn” program submitted by Jessica Crowson and Wilson High School’s “It Is Rocket Science After All Stage II” submitted by Cliff and Mary Kay Moriarty.

Another huge grant awarded to the district in 2009 was FULFILL, or Funding Libraries in Florence to Improve Lives through Literacy. The grant money, $498,688, has been used to purchase books and technology, as well as to install databases at the district’s high schools. The grant will also allow for extended hours at the media centers during both the school year and during the summer.

“Our teachers work hard to secure grants for Florence 1,” Little-McDaniel said. “Many of the things that we do and are able to accomplish are due to the grants that the teacher receive.”

Programs such as North Vista’s Artist In Residence program would not be possible with out the hard work and dedication teachers put forth in securing such opportunities for their students, she said.

Many other plans are under way for summer programs, the addition of new technology, and more initiatives to increase learning.

“We are doing a lot of innovative things to help improve achievement,” Little-McDaniel said. “We want everyone to be proud of the fact that we are staying on the cutting edge of doing things to help our students achieve and only get better.”