Alexander Elementary’s Academic Gains Highlighted During Visit by SC Superintendent Ellen Weaver
School’s multi-year turnaround shows what is possible through high expectations, investment in educators and a culture built around student success
A school once defined by historically low academic performance is now being recognized as an example of what is possible when strong leadership, excellent teachers, high expectations and a community of support come together around students.
South Carolina Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver visited Alexander Elementary School Thursday, selecting the Greenville County school following Monday’s release of 2025-26 SC READY results to highlight its academic improvement and the work behind the school’s transformation. Notably, Alexander is the seventh most improved school in the state of South Carolina.
Alexander’s newest results continue a strong multi-year trajectory. Since 2024, the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts has increased 36.5 percentage points, while math proficiency has increased 26.8 percentage points.
The improvement extends beyond ELA and math. In 2022-23, just 16.4% of fourth graders met or exceeded expectations in science. In the latest results, 50% met or exceeded expectations, a gain of 33.6 percentage points and more than three times the proficiency rate from three years ago.
The results reflect a sustained turnaround at a school that has historically faced significant challenges, including high poverty, high staff turnover, a growing multilingual learner population and years of low academic performance.
“Seeing continued gains in student achievement is a tremendous source of pride, particularly because these results reflect an eight-year trend of higher achievement and steady progress across our district.” said Dr. Burke Royster, Superintendent of Greenville County Schools. “Alexander Elementary, as part of our Elevate pilot program, is an example of extraordinary progress as the school moved from Unsatisfactory to Excellent on the state report card in just one year. Most importantly, these results are about more than scores—they represent the opportunities we are creating for our students today and the stronger foundation we are building for their future. We also appreciate State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver and the South Carolina Department of Education for their commitment to continuous academic improvement and their focus on ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed. This kind of transformation demonstrates what is possible when everyone is united around high expectations and a commitment to excellence.”
From Unsatisfactory to Excellent
Alexander’s transformation is about more than a single year of test scores.
The school moved from an Unsatisfactory to an Excellent rating on the South Carolina School Report Card in the first year of Greenville County Schools’ Elevate initiative and has continued building on that progress.
Alexander’s success is rooted in five essential elements: belief, strong leadership, investment in teachers, a culture of 100%, and a community of support that includes parents, community partners, district leaders and staff working together around students.
“Our team embraced every challenge,” said Alexander Elementary Principal Dr. Dawn Hooker. “Our students are capable of extraordinary things, and our staff believes that deeply. The progress we have made reflects an entire school community working together with the expectation that every student can grow and succeed. We are proud of how far Alexander has come, but we also know this is only the beginning.”
Elevate: Investing in People and Instruction
Alexander’s transformation accelerated with the 2024-25 launch of Elevate, a four-year GCS pilot designed to attract and retain high-quality educators, reward excellence, and transform schools with the greatest opportunity for growth.
Alexander Elementary and Lakeview Middle School were selected as the first two Elevate schools due to longstanding challenges, including high turnover, high poverty and years of underperformance.
The initiative focuses on investing in strong educators and giving them the professional learning, instructional coaching, collaboration, and support necessary to improve student outcomes and build a sustainable culture of high expectations.
“Elevate proves what’s possible when we invest deeply in people,” said Dr. Charlotte McDavid, GCS Assistant Superintendent for Transformation. “With intentional training, aligned systems, and belief in every child, teachers rise, students rise and school culture is transformed.”
Overcoming Past Performance
One of Alexander’s greatest challenges has been overcoming both historically low achievement and the expectations that can accompany it.
The school and district have worked intentionally to reject the idea that past results define future performance. That shift has required alignment among school leadership, teachers, district staff, families and community partners, along with high expectations paired with strong support for educators.
The results demonstrate the change. In 2022-23, fewer than one in five Alexander fourth graders met or exceeded expectations in science. Three years later, one in two did. Since 2024, ELA proficiency has risen 36.5 percentage points and math proficiency 26.8 percentage points.
In the first year of Elevate, Alexander moved from an Unsatisfactory to an Excellent overall South Carolina School Report Card rating.
Together, these measures reflect improvement across subjects and across multiple years, providing evidence that Alexander’s progress is becoming sustained academic success.
Alexander Elementary: Academic Progress at a Glance
- ELA proficiency: Increased 36.5 percentage points since 2024
- Math proficiency: Increased 26.8 percentage points since 2024
- Science: Fourth-grade Meets or Exceeds increased from 16.4% in 2022-23 to 50% in 2025-26
- SC School Report Card: Improved from Unsatisfactory to Excellent in the first year of Elevate
- Elevate: One of two schools selected for the district’s four-year transformation pilot
About Elevate
Elevate is a four-year GCS pilot launched in 2024-25 to help transform historically underperforming schools by attracting and retaining high-quality educators and strengthening instruction. Alexander Elementary and Lakeview Middle are the district’s two Elevate schools.
The initiative combines intensive professional learning, instructional coaching, collaboration and targeted student supports to create sustainable improvement and a culture of high expectations.