The Connector
News from the Lancaster County School District, June 2022
Lancaster County Community,
It's hard to believe another school year has come and gone. Believe me when I say we have great things to look forward to in Lancaster County! While summer is a time for students to unwind and enjoy the time off, we use this time to better our school district.
Our teachers are attending professional development courses and furthering their education to better teach your children. Safety is working with local agencies to come up with the best safety procedures for our schools. Transportation is working on the best bus routes for our growing county. We are also launching our first ever district-wide school supply drive this summer to be able to provide for our students in need. We will be out in the community distributing Gold Passes to our senior citizens allowing them to go to every sporting event in the district for FREE!
These are just a few of the things we are working on to make Lancaster County Schools the best they can be! Take this time to enjoy your summer. August will be here before we know it!
Dr. Jonathan Phipps
LCSD Superintendent
Graduation 2022
We had more than 800 seniors graduate in our district this spring! We are so proud of all of our graduates and we wish them the best with their future endeavors. Click on the links below to see pictures from each graduation.
2022-2023 School Calendar
In the news...
Congratulations to our very own Andrew Jackson High School's Varsity Baseball Team for winning their first ever STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! We are so proud of you! AA State Champs!
Check out this article on TheState.com: State champs! Andrew Jackson captures first baseball title with win over Gray
Buddy Benches
We are proud to share that thanks to Seth's Giving Tree, our elementary school playgrounds are now equipped with as many as 5 Buddy Benches! Our maintenance team distributed all 36 benches in the last several weeks.
The Buddy Bench is a place where children can go if they feel lonely, new to school or want to make new friends. Other children are encouraged to reach out to anyone on the bench to ask them to play and be a friend.
To see pictures of the Buddy Benches on campuses across the district, click HERE.
Thank you Seth's Giving Tree! I am sure they will be put to good use!
HVAC Systems in Schools
A huge emphasis of our School Board and District leadership has been to improve air quality, energy efficiency and climate control in our schools. Over the past couple of years our maintenance department has worked tirelessly to procure contractors to get this important work done.
Schools throughout the district have seen upgrades where needed. Twenty schools have seen a combination of tangible upgrades or new systems.
Some of the bigger jobs performed were:
Lancaster High $6,848,645
North Elementary $1,250,467
Buford Elementary $1,798,009
Buford Middle $931,741
Indian Land Elementary $1,231,555
All of these important upgrades were a result of federal ESSER funding. Over 13 million dollars has been used to improve HVAC and ventilation in schools across the county.
These are just some of the great things going on in our district to support safe, comfortable learning for our children.
Esser Funds
New Immunization Record
Beginning July 1, 2022, the only immunization record accepted in our schools will be the DHEC 4024 form. DHEC will require all immunization information be entered into SIMON, the SC Immunization Registry.
Parental consent is required for LCSD nurses to enter a student's immunization information into the SC Immunization Registry.
To sign the consent electronically, you will need to sign into your Powerschool Parent Portal and follow the steps below. If you have any questions, please contact your child's school nurse.
1 - Sign into their Powerschool Parent Portal
2 - Click on Forms
3 - Click on the form - Parent/Guardian Consent for Reporting of Immunization Information to the SC Immunization Registry
4- Date and Sign the form
5- Click Submit
ILHS Well Water Fundraiser
Two villages in Rwanda now have clean water systems thanks to the Environmental Science Club at Indian Land High School! We first told you about their sock fundraiser in a #lcsdpotlight before the winter holiday. The group partnered with "We Help Too" and raised $6,000 by selling crazy socks to the community.
Biology teacher and club sponsor, Kristy Marler-Weiner spearheaded the project. Between the two villages they helped over 1,680 people. Next year the club plans to raise money to fund prosthetic legs for kids that need them in villages just like this one.
Way to go warriors!
Covid Testing Site Summer Hours
The COVID testing site at the LHS Multipurpose Building will remain open through July for LCSD students and staff. No appointment is necessary. ​The site will begin summer hours on Monday, June 6. See summer schedule below:
​June 6th - July 28​th
Monday - Thursday
10:30am - 5:30pm
** Test site will be closed Monday, July 4th and Tuesday, July 5th (July 4th holiday)
Bus Registration for 2022-2023
PreK Student Registration
- Brooklyn Springs Elementary
- Buford Elementary
- Clinton Elementary
- Erwin Elementary
- Heath Springs Elementary
- Kershaw Elementary
- McDonald Green Elementary
- North Elementary
All 4K students are able to register for a 4K program in LCSD. However, at this time we do not have 4K programs at Harrisburg, Indian Land, and Van Wyck Elementary Schools. Pre-K students from these schools are still encouraged to register if the parent is willing to transport them to schools located in the Lancaster area (if they qualify for the 4K program during screening).
Pre-K students must be four-years-old on or before September 1, 2022 to register for the upcoming school year. You must register for the school in your attendance zone either by visiting the school or by visiting the district website. You must have an email address and create an account to register. You will be prompted to upload essential documents at the time of registration (if documents aren't uploaded this may cause a delay in processing your application for screening). If you are unable to upload documentation, please submit documentation to:
Jamekia Ford at Southside Early Childhood Center
500 Hampton Road
Lancaster, SC 29720
Please register as soon as possible as all prospective 4K students will go through a screening process. Once registered, a representative with LCSD will reach out to you to schedule your screening. (The pictures below are from our first Pre-K screening in May.)
Founders Credit Union and Comporium teamed up to fill backpacks with school supplies to donate to prospective 4-K students at their screening. A snack and a drink will also be available at the screenings, thanks to Food Lion! Thanks to these sponsors for helping these young students get off to a great start!
Summer Meal Program
FREE meals for youth ages 18 and younger will be available this summer at two schools in Lancaster County School District, thanks to the USDA Summer Food Service program.
• Clinton Elementary will serve breakfast from 7-8 a.m. and lunch from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Summer meals begin again May 31 – June 30.
• Kershaw Elementary will serve lunch only from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. June 6-30.
• All sites are closed on Fridays.
• Adults may also pay to eat for $2.45 for breakfast and $4.45 for lunch.
Any LCSD student age 18 and younger qualifies for the free breakfast and lunch at either facility. More details can be found on our website or by clicking the link below.
Planet Fitness
All teens who sign up for the free pass will also be entered into a drawing for a $500 scholarship (one per state) and a grand prize $5,000 scholarship.
Planet Fitness Summer Pass Sign Up
Local Planet Fitness locations:
Rock Hill:
1806 Cherry Road, Suite 115
803-328-6100
Fort Mill:
825 Crossroads Plaza
803-548-4545
Charlotte (Ballantyne):
8620 Camfield Street
704-741-1144
Pineville:
8700 Pineville-Matthews Road
980-498-3344
First Baptist Church Lock-In
Faith Presbyterian VBS
Liberty Summer Camp
Bruins Wrestling Camp
Buford Football Camp
Victory Sports Summer Camp
LCSD Information Technology Department
Blake Stacks, Director
Jennifer Adams, Network Administrator
Tony Davis, Network Engineer
Shirley Mickles, PowerSchool Coordinator
Taneshia Samuel, Administrative Assistant
Anna Sigmon, Network Administrator
Network Technicians:
Jennifer Burwell
Chris Estridge
Vance Evans
Jacob Gamble
Brandon Gossman
Jenny Prete
Daniel Pritchard
Tyler Richardson
Clint Wallace
Led by Director Blake Stacks, the IT Department collectively holds 188 years of experience. The department's ability to view situations/issues from multiple angles, due to their diverse technological backgrounds, makes the IT Department unique and better equipped to serve the district.
The department oversees district-wide chromebook management, computer issues, email groups, our Google Management System, Smartboards, network logins, new hardware and software purchase requests, powerschool and testing configuration support and much more.
Network technicians are assigned to specific schools to assist with technology requests at the school level. Click HERE to see a list of network technician assignments. All other employees in the department can be found in the main IT office at 307 South Catawba Street, across from the District Office, in Lancaster.
You can check out their department website by clicking the link below:
https://sites.google.com/lcsd.k12.sc.us/information-technology/home
Job Openings
Have you ever thought about working for Lancaster County School District? We are always in need of great teachers! But not all of our school openings require an education degree. We have openings for substitute teachers, bus drivers, 29 hour assistants and cafeteria staffers! Check out all our job openings by clicking the link below:
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Lancaster County School District
Email: public.information@lcsd.k12.sc.us
Website: https://www.lancastercsd.com/
Location: 300 South Catawba Street, Lancaster, SC, USA
Phone: 803-286-6972
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialLCSDSC