Clover School District (CSD) celebrated a year of milestones in achieving its mission of “preparing each child for a successful, productive and responsible future.”
“Successful” is best documented, of course, by student performance on state assessments. Clover students at all grade levels continued to outperform their counterparts across the Palmetto State. CSD maintained its excellence, posting scores that ranked consistently in the top five in South Carolina on most tests at most grade levels.
Success could also be seen at the individual and program levels, where students achieved a number of “firsts.” Among these, we celebrated Freshman Peyton Goldenstein’s regional spelling bee championship. Peyton was the first CSD student to win this honor and represent our school district at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC. We also celebrated the Clover High School Drumline’s second World Championship in as many years. We are so proud of the dedication and commitment to hard work that these young musicians have demonstrated to shine an international spotlight on our outstanding music program.
Our nation’s growing economy demands students who can make productive contributions, and students completing courses at the Applied Technology Campus (ATC) are attaining excellence in a wide variety of career and technical skills. Most programs at the ATC culminate with an industry credential. Students in the firefighter program, for example, take the South Carolina Firefighters Exam and can enter the profession upon graduation. The innovative Utility Line Worker program, a partnership of Clover School District, York Technical College and York School District, hosts a line worker “rodeo” where local utilities can recruit high-performing students to their workforce. Students in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) earned top honors at their state conference this year, and students in the culinary arts program and mechatronics and engineering program used their skills to enhance our local community.
Every parent strives to ensure that their children become responsible adults. CSD offers several programs to develop this critical skill set in our students. The Leader in Me program, for example, has been adopted by Kinard Elementary, Clover Middle School and Larne Elementary. Leader in Me incorporates the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” into the school day so that students begin practicing leadership habits, including being proactive and putting first things first. Kinard has been a Lighthouse School with Leader in Me since 2016.
At the high school level, no program better demonstrates responsibility than the Air Force Junior ROTC. Clover High School’s unit is one of the top in the nation, producing the National Cadet of the Year for two consecutive years. Senior Kayley Spitzer earned the honor in 2023, and graduate Charlie Bratton earned it in 2022. These students were selected from among 31,000 cadets in 850 units across the country. Eighteen cadets attended flight academies during the summer of 2023 and completed their first solo flights at an age when most students are just getting a driver’s license. Another 57 cadets participated in the Citadel Leadership Course this summer, culminating a year that included hundreds of service hours to the Clover community and the presentation of colors for numerous district events.
The key to these outstanding student accomplishments is the high-performing staff that creates opportunities and guides students to them. CSD celebrated a record number of professional accolades in 2022-2023, including Principal of the Year, CTE Principal of the Year and SC Teacher of the Year Finalist. CSD continues to recruit and retain talented educators by offering competitive salaries and employee engagement events and training to overcome a nationwide teacher shortage. In short, we strive to be a “destination district” where educators seek to work.
