Welcome Back Parents!
My name is Melanie Dukes McKnight, and I am excited to announce that I will be your principal for the 2026-2027 school year. I have served as a principal for the last four years at Olanta Creative Arts and Science Magnet School and I am a 29 year veteran in education. I have served Florence School District Three as a principal, assistant principal, academic coach and teacher for 15 years. I have also worked in Orangeburg and Williamsburg Counties. I am married and have three sons, one daughter in law, and three grandsons.
I believe that every child has the ability to grow, learn, and succeed when given the right support, encouragement, and opportunities. Each student brings unique strengths and potential, and through meaningful relationships, high expectations, and responsive teaching, all children can make progress and achieve their goals. It is my job to ensure this belief is at the hearts of every educator. With your help, I am confident that we can make a difference to each and every student we serve.
Our theme for this school year is “Growing Minds, Exploring Worlds”. Our motto is, “We Rise! We Evolve! We Succeed!”. Each student will learn what they need to be successful and be able to define what success looks like for them.Goals will be created and a learning path so that each teacher and parent knows what it will take to reach each goal. Our job as stakeholders is to provide them with the tools they need to be successful. Our areas of focus are divided into the following areas:
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Academics- Ensuring all students are reaching their fullest potential in reading, math, social studies and science, using art integration to fully engage our scholars,
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Culture/Climate- We want our students to love school, look forward to coming everyday, and feel safe when they are on campus. For students to achieve academically, everyday counts. Our goal is to increase the attendance rate and reduce chronic absenteeism. We also want parents to feel welcome in school and be comfortable reaching out to teachers and administrators.
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Leadership- LCECC is a Leader In Me school. Therefore, we will teach our scholars the fundamentals of leadership and life skills. Every child embodies the skills to be a leader!
We look forward to celebrating our students this year. We will have PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Supports) celebrations to celebrate students with 1 or less referrals and students who receive merits (positive recognition). We will also have attendance recognition for students with zero absences. This year, we are including parents into the activity by entering parents into a drawing for prizes when their child attends school everyday during the quarter.
To reach the levels of success will take every staff member, every student and every parent. Every job is important. We will support each other as a team and will look to you to support us as well.
Sincerely,
Melanie Dukes McKnight,
Principal