From staff reports
Veteran administrators have been selected to lead four Beaufort County School District (BCSD) schools, including St. Helena Elementary and WhaleBranch Elementary.
At St. Helena Elementary School, Constance Goodwine-Lewis, current principal at Broad River Elementary, will replace Tara Mack, who is retiring. Goodwine-Lewis, a native Beaufortonian and Battery Creek High School graduate, has served her entire 24-year career at BCSD.
Starting as an elementary teacher at Shanklin and St. Helena elementary schools, Goodwine-Lewis then became certified in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). She went on to serve as assistant principal at Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts and Broad River Elementary schools.
Since 2009, she has served as principal of Broad River Elementary School. Goodwine-Lewis holds master’s degrees in Educational Leadership and Special Education with an emphasis on Mathematics Inclusion from Charleston Southern University and Clemson.
At Whale Branch Elementary School, Carlos Williams replaces Marva Neal who is retiring. Williams began his career serving as a Special Education teacher at Mid-Carolina High School, and was an elementary school teacher at Watkins-Nance Elementary and W.S. Sandel Elementary schools in Columbia, as well as at Cesar Chavez Elementary in Hyattsville, Md.
He served as district administrator of Richland County School District One’s summer learning academy and as an assistant administrator and assistant principal at H.B. Rhame Jr. Elementary School in Columbia, where he also held the role of assistant principal at Edward E. Taylor Elementary School. Most recently, Williams served as BCSD’s Coordinator of Elementary Math. Williams holds a master’s degree in Divergent Learning from Columbia College and an Educational Specialist Degree from Walden University.
In two other moves, Matt Hall, current principal at Bluffton Middle School, replaces Denise Donica, who is retiring, at Bluffton High School; and at H.E. McCracken Middle School, with more than 20 years of administrative experience, Roger Ward takes over the helm.
“Every exceptional district has strong school leaders, and I’m excited to see these superb educators be successful in their new roles,” Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said in a news release. “They’re experienced, they understand the importance of creating a school culture of moving academic achievement and ensuring our students succeed.”
Interview committees were comprised of teacher leaders, feeder/cluster principals, School Improvement Council members, the Chief Human Resources Officer, a Human Resources representative, an Executive Director, a representative of the district’s Instructional Services division, and the Deputy Superintendent. The high school interview committee also included student leaders. After each round of interviews, committee members rated the candidates and those ratings were submitted to Superintendent Rodriguez, who made the final recommendations submitted to the Board of Education.
The district will also be selecting new principals for Broad River Elementary School and Bluffton Middle School this summer.
