Education Week names TransformSC superintendent ‘Leader to Learn From’

Burke Royster, Superintendent of TransformSC district Greenville County Schools, has been named one of Education Week’s 2017 Leaders to Learn From. Royster is recognized for his efforts to increase student engagement and graduation rates in his district. One of the signature programs in the district is OnTrack Greenville, an early-warning system that uses attendance, behavior, and discipline data to identify students that are becoming disengaged in school. The program is a partnership between the district, the United Way of Greenville, and other community partners to monitor at-risk students in the high-poverty White Horse Road community. If a student is flagged in the system, the school will decide the appropriate intervention for the student and reach out to the community partner with the expertise. Royster hopes that the program will increase graduation rates for the district’s low-income students.

Similarly, Royster has been a champion for Graduation Plus, an initiative to ensure that every student in the district graduates with a high school diploma and an additional credential like college credit or a certificate in a technical or vocational field.

Royster credits much of his district’s success to partnerships with the community. He will be presenting at the 2017 TransformSC Conference on March 13 in the Business Engagement in Education session. Royster will be joined by Craig Brown, President and Co-Owner of the Greenville Drive, and a member of the Greenville County Board of Trustees to discuss the district’s business partnerships. The session will also include speakers involved in a partnership in the Columbia area including Marie McGehee, Colonial Life; Mary Snipes, MEBA; and Keith Price, Richland County School District Two.

This post contains excerpts from an article published by Education Week.  Read the full article here>>