School Briefs - July 19, 2018
NEW PRINCIPAL NAMED FOR PHILIP SIMMONS MIDDLE SCHOOL
Berkeley County Board of Education board members have confirmed the promotion of Charla Groves from assistant principal at Philip Simmons Middle School to principal.
Groves follows in the footsteps of Dr. Anthony Dixon, who was selected at the end of the school year to lead Philip Simmons High School.
“Members of community shared their thoughts on the importance of the next principal at Philip Simmons Middle continuing to build upon what was established by Dr. Anthony Dixon,” BCSD Superintendent Dr. Eddie Ingram said. “There’s no better person to continue that path than Charla Groves. She was there as Dr. Dixon’s assistant principal, understands the community and has a firm grasp of the STEAM program at the school that’s adored by students, parents, teachers and those of us here at the central services office.”
Groves came to Berkeley County School District in 1996 as a teacher at College Park Middle School. She became an instructional technologist in 2007 and began working as an assistant principal at Philip Simmons Middle in August 2016 when the school opened its doors.
“I am truly humbled to be chosen as the new principal of Philip Simmons Middle School,” said Groves. “It has been an honor serving the students, staff and families of Philip Simmons as assistant principal, and I am looking forward to continuing to develop our culture of community, collaboration, and academic excellence.”
Mrs. Groves’ promotion was one of several approved by the school board at a workshop on July 10. Leigh Hankins Patterson was promoted to coordinator of psychological services; Jenna Wells was named coordinator of virtual learning; William Childers was named assistant principal at Sedgefield Middle School; and Christopher Buchholz (Goose Creek High School), Katherine Butcher (Berkeley High School) and Kimberly Joseph (Hanahan High School) were all promoted to assistant principal of athletics positions.
According to a press release from the Berkeley County School District, Joseph joined the district in 2005 as a health teacher at Sedgefield Middle School. She bounced around at Cane Bay High, Sangaree Middle and Goose Creek High before she found herself firmly planted in 2009 at Hanahan High as a health and physical education teacher. With nearly 10 years of working in the Hanahan community under her belt, Joseph said she’s excited about the new opportunity at the school she loves, with the department she’s passionate about, in the tight-knit community she calls home.
“Our school, our plan, our programs run pretty well as-is,” she said. “My goal is to help them be more efficient and more successful. We have a new head football coach, and I am excited to work with him and continue to build our success in Hanahan.”
“Hanahan High School is very excited to have Kim Joseph be our next assistant principal over athletics,” added HHS Principal Tom Gallus. “Kim has very strong roots to the community and has worked tirelessly to help out the athletic department any way she can.”