Phil Landreth

I have been involved, literally, with my children’s education in Anderson District One schools for the past 12 years. We moved to the area because my wife and I had studied the local school districts and chose this one because of its strong ranking.

My first volunteer job was as Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) treasurer at Concrete Elementary, which turned into five years. Next, after Powdersville Elementary was built, I was PTSO treasurer there for a year. During this time, we completed eight Eagle Scout projects at these two schools, purchasing and installing playground equipment and mulch beds. During these years, all of us parents, as well as our children, turned into semi-professional fundraisers. Currently I serve as president of the PTSO and School Improvement Council at Wren High School, and during the past two years, I have held the office of vice president and president.

I came to realize that our teachers not only have excellent credentials, 65 percent hold advanced degrees, but are caring, challenging, and truly want our children to succeed. Along the way, it became evident that our school board was excellent and that they were thrifty and careful with the taxpayers’ money.

Another thing that makes our district great, is an excellent community that’s parents really care about their children’s education. The teachers and administrators can’t do it without parental involvement at home. Wren High has a progressive School Improvement Council, comprising parents, student council and teachers, that deals with everything from dress codes to how to spend grant money. Wren High is currently in consideration for the Palmetto’s Finest, the highest award that the State Board of Education gives.

Now, let me discuss Wren High’s attributes. The Freshman Academy is a great transition from middle school to high school. The students still take some classes with upper classman, but are self-contained for the most part. This Academy graduated its first class of seniors last year, and the academic numbers proved that it was a success. This past year 95 percent passed their freshman year.

This past year’s senior class produced 87 Life Scholarships, and 19 Palmetto Fellows out of 324 graduates. This fruitful class was also awarded $4 million in scholarship funding. Eighty six percent went on to attend post-secondary education.

The curriculum offered at Wren High is outstanding. Dual credit courses are offered through Tri-County Technical College, with the classes being taught at the high school. Also, AP courses are offered, which if the exit exam is passed with a high enough score, college credit for that course is given. Also school tutoring is offered in all subjects. The Career Center is also excellent, with courses ranging from many trades through pre-engineering.

Our area has been experiencing a 3 percent to 5 percent growth rate the past five years. This growth finally affected Wren High this year, for the first time since the Freshman Academy was built, as it has an over-capacity student body of 1700 — 100 students more than the school’s rating. Twenty-four teachers now have to float during their planning periods to allow classes to be taught in their rooms.

Because of this growth, Anderson District 1’s school board has developed a comprehensive building plan, adopted on Jan. 8, that includes a new 2A High School in Powdersville to be built, along with renovations to most of the existing schools in the district, including Wren High and its athletic facilities. This plan was developed based on input from parental committees throughout the district and produced the best solution to support continued growth for the next 10 years. The referendum on this building plan is to be held on March 18.

Phil Landreth is the Wren High School Parent Teach Student Organization president.