James B.
Edwards Elementary School,
located in Mt.
Pleasant, South
Carolina (near Charleston,
SC), opened its doors in the fall of 1981 with only seven classrooms
being
utilized for grades 1 and 2. Construction was still underway when the
school
opened. The overcrowded conditions at Whitesides Elementary resulted in
the construction of James B. Edwards Elementary. Construction was
completed
in the spring of 1982, and the remainder of the school's population
moved
into its new building at that time.
The population
of students at JBE increased
from 325
to 1050 students in 1990, and part of our school was rezoned to Belle
Hall
Elementary. Our school's population has remained around 700 students
since
1990.
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Mr.
Sam Thomas Lee has served as
principal of JBE
since the doors opened. Mr. Lee has earned degrees from Charleston
Southern
University, College of Charleston, and The Citadel. In his spare time
he
enjoys fishing, hunting, horseback riding, duck and bird taxidermy, and
cutting six acres of grass. |
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Our assistant
principal, Dirk Bedford, joined the JBE family in 2006. He earned
an
undergraduate degree in Economics and Latin from the University of
Notre Dame and graduate degrees in Education from the University of
Portland and The Citadel. Mr. Bedford enjoys cheering on his
Fightin'
Irish during football season and spending time with his family - twins,
Della and Xander, and wife, Shelly. |
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The faculty is
made up of over 40 certified
teachers with
the majority holding advanced degrees. Nearly 15% of the
teachers at James B. Edwards are Nationally Board Certified.
JAMES B.
EDWARDS - AN
AWARD WINNING
SCHOOL!
James B. Edwards has received
several recognition
awards over the years. They include:
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"Palmetto's
Finest Award" |
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"Inviting
School Award" |
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"SC
Exemplary Writing Award" (1993-1996) |
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"Environmental
School of the Year"
(1992-1993) |
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SC Chapter of the
National School Public Relations Association, "Award of Excellence for Web page", (1997 & 2000) |
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Phoenix
Award for excellence in
Conservation and
Environmental programs for students" (1998-1999) |
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SC State Board of
Education Volunteer Award. Using the theme, “Metamorphosis,” a
grant was awarded for an ambitious plan (James B. Edwards
Elementary Butterfly Project) that included
the study of butterflies, construction of a butterfly garden,
publication of a butterfly brochure and a matching grant for Internet
access networking. (2000) |
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Second place,
SCIway's K-12 Web Design Contest. The "Carolina Shores Alphabet
Quilt" website was created by the entire second grade at James B.
Edwards The website http://sciway2.net/2001/ shows the quilt, stories and illustrations.
(2001) |
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"Showcase
Technology School" (2002 -
present) |
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South CarolinaState
education Oversight Committee recognizes James B. Edwards for
accomplishments to close South Carolina’s achievement gap through the
exemplary 2002 Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test (PACT) performance
of historically underachieving students. (2003) |
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Member,
"The
Society
of 1824", a philanthropical organization of the Medical University of
SC (1992 - present) |
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Centurion Award" at
the Society of 1824 dinner for reaching the 100 - 500,000 dollar level
in donations from our children to the Medical University.
Masterminds is an annual project held in conjunction with the Medical
University of South Carolina's Children's Hospital. This program serves
as a fundraiser for the hospital and as math enhancement for the
students. (2004) |
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"Palmetto Gold Award Winner" - The Palmetto
Gold and Silver Awards Program was established by the
Education Accountability Act of 1998. As an important part of the
education accountability system in South Carolina, the Awards program
is designed to recognize and reward schools that attain high levels of
absolute performance and schools that attain high rates of improvement. (2002 -03, 2003 - 04, 2004 -
05, 2005 - 06)
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