During its August 10th meeting, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the school’s name be officially changed from Sumter STEAM Charter to Liberty STEAM Charter. After soliciting feedback from the community, the board received 275 responses to its survey. Of those individuals, 98% agreed that a name change was necessary to reflect the rich legacy of the former Liberty Street Elementary. A formal request was made to the SC Public Charter School District on August 13th to approve the name change, which was also unanimously approved making the name change official. According to Chairman Thompson, “Not only does renaming the school reflect the rich legacy of excellence & pride in the former Liberty Street Elementary School but, moreover, it goes to the heart of our mission. I am so proud of this board and the incredible progress we have made in the last year. To our supporting stakeholders: thank you and know that we cannot wait to begin to serve this community and our families.”

I consider it to be a true privilege and honor to have been selected as the Founding Executive Director for Liberty STEAM Charter. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for welcoming me into the Sumter community. I am excited about leading the efforts to establish Sumter's first tuition-free, public charter. The vision for Liberty STEAM Charter is a complete cultural change from the traditional teaching & learning model. We will focus on partnering with our community and families to provide personalized and project-based learning experiences through a STEAM-based academic program where graduates become the next generation of leaders, ​employers, and employees who contribute to the economic well-being of their communities and families.

Since coming to Sumter for the first time in June, it became apparent to me that key LSC stakeholders believe that LSC's proposed educational model will successfully serve and reach all parts of the community in preparing our young people to participate in an ever-changing economy. Having had the opportunity to jump feet first into the work has allowed me the opportunity to learn a great amount of information in a short period of time. One thing that is clear to me is that many families across Sumter are anxiously seeking additional high-quality public school options given that our children only have one shot at a K-12 education. I encourage you to follow Liberty STEAM Charter on social media and check out our website to stay updated with new developments as we move forward in the charter authorization process. I look forward to continuing to get out and into the community in the coming weeks and months - please email me if I can ever of be assistance (kgraham@libertysteamcharter.org).