Charleston County School District launches learning leaders program

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — Charleston County School District is accepting applications for a new learning leaders program designed to keep exceptional teachers in the classroom while providing leadership opportunities.

20 teachers from all grade levels, early learning through high school, will be chosen as part of the pilot class for the 2026-27 school year. Teachers selected for the program will receive $10,000.

Learning leaders will hold lab times where their teacher peers can observe new teaching methods. Teachers will remain in the learning leader position for two years.

Program details

“We become teachers because we want to work with kids and we get our energy from them and we believe that we can change the future through the work with them,” Anita Huggins, Charleston County School District superintendent, said. “That was really the goal of that and my vision. Offering the stipend and the opportunity to help them nurture the next wave of learners and leaders was the best way to go about it.”

The program allows teachers to create lab classroom opportunities for their peers, develop professional development experiences and engage in leadership conversations as a connection between the classroom and administration.

“It’s an opportunity for teachers amongst all of our grade bands to be identified who want to create lab classroom opportunities for their peers, create professional development experiences also for their peers, as well as engage in leadership conversations as a conduit between the classroom and the office of administration,” said Dr. Luke Clamp, Charleston County School District deputy superintendent.

Teachers must have shown exceptional achievement with student growth over at least the last two years to qualify.

Lab classroom model

The lab classroom model differs from traditional professional development by allowing teachers to learn from peers within their own school system.

“Sometimes you might go to professional development experience, it might be off site, it might be somewhere else delivered from someone that may not know the conditions of our school system,” Clamp said. “The lab classrooms is from a common peer inside the school, maybe even the school that you teach.”

At least one lab opportunity will be available each month. Teachers will work with students of the same age with similar needs, allowing observers to immediately implement practices in their own classrooms.

Future expansion

The district plans to expand the program based on teacher feedback.

“The picture of our preferred future is that every school have a learning leader amongst its cadre of teachers,” Clamp said. “So that in every building, a teacher knows who to go to, to learn from, to grow and become better.”

Thirty-five stakeholders, including teachers, principals, coaches and teacher leaders, reviewed programs in other counties to determine best practices.

“We do actually see exemplary teachers aspire into leadership positions that move them away from working with students directly into really supervising people who supervise students,” Clamp said. “Our principals and even our instructional leaders all complemented the belief that the most exemplary teachers staying in the classroom really created the best conditions for our students to thrive.”

More importantly, the school district wants parents and teachers to know it appreciates them and understands the need to grow in their positions as educators.

“The people doing the work are the people in classrooms and they’re the best to educate their peers and then and our young educators and our educators coming out of all the Charleston and Clemson and USC and SC state,” said Huggins. “Educators, teaching educators are where the real work happens. There’s nobody better because they’re living it. They’re doing the work.

Applications close April 20.