Board follows public’s picks in naming 2 schools
By Bobby Bryant, Editor
In a matter of minutes last week, the Darlington County school board nailed down the names for two new elementary schools being built in Hartsville and Lamar.
The Hartsville school will be called Bay Road Elementary; the Lamar school, Lamar-Spaulding Elementary. Without debate, the board followed the wishes of the public – those names led the list when the community cast votes on naming the schools.
The board’s Feb. 10 votes closed the discussion on what to call the three $20 million elementary schools being built across the county. The board had earlier decided to call Darlington’s new school J.L. Cain Elementary; it will replace the original Cain Elementary and Brunson-Dargan Elementary.
All three are expected to open this fall.
The school board devoted much of its brief public session last week to honoring students’ achievements. The honorees included:
— Two students from Darlington’s Brunson-Dargan Elementary who won first place in their competitions at the 2019 S.C. Junior Beta Club State Convention. Deshirah Williamson won first place in the Elementary Poetry Writing competition. Aaliyah Davis won first place in the Elementary Speech Competition.
— Seventeen students who earned a perfect score on one or more sections of the S.C. College-and Career-Ready Assessments (SC READY) test, which are statewide assessments in English language arts and math. They are:
Audrey Perry, North Hartsville Elementary School
Bailey Wall, St. John’s Elementary School
Amelia Braddock, Spaulding Elementary School
Davaris Lambert, West Hartsville Elementary School
Seth Smith, West Hartsville Elementary School
Brandon Anderson, Brockington Elementary Magnet School
John Jones, Carolina Elementary School
Jacob Erese, North Hartsville Elementary School
Mary Caldwell, Hartsville Middle School
Barnes Hall, Hartsville Middle School
Ryan Watford, Hartsville Middle School
Matthew Smith, Darlington Middle School
Ashley Niu, Hartsville Middle School
Andrew Askins, Hartsville Middle School
Mabel Brown, Hartsville Middle School
Avarie Easters, Hartsville Middle School
Jara Davis, Darlington Middle School
— Six students who earned a perfect score on one or more sections of the S.C. Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (SC PASS), a statewide science and social studies assessment. They are:
Jeremy Spears, Brockington Elementary School
Chloe Moore, Hartsville Middle School
Turner Peel, Hartsville Middle School
RahShawn Smoakes, Hartsville Middle School
Ethan Brown, Spaulding Middle School
Gianna Bambery, Darlington Middle School
