Clover picks its new Teacher of the Year ahead of earlier-than-usual school start
Clover High School teacher Kelly Clark was named Teacher of the Year for the Clover School District at an event Monday just ahead of a new school year.
Clark teaches English at the high school.
Clark taught in five middle or high schools in the Carolinas throughout a career dating back to 1997. Clark also spent time as an assistant principal and on faculty at Gardner-Webb University. Clark holds degrees from Gardner-Webb and East Carolina University.
Applications were reviewed in the spring for the award announced Monday, which comes with the use of a vehicle for a year from Fred Caldwell Chevrolet. In her application, Clark noted a grandmother who taught in a one-room schoolhouse, a father who was and elementary school principal and a mother who taught elementary school.
“I grew up in a school,” Clark wrote in that application, “and I never imagined another career path.”
The announcement came at the district convocation Monday, an event to welcome back staff for the new school year. School staff returned this week and students start back on Aug. 8.
Clover and York schools joined a statewide trend this fall in adopting modified school calendars that bring students back to class earlier. York school start Aug. 7. Both districts run through May 30, 2024.
Chester schools opted for a similar calendar. Schools in Fort Mill, Rock Hill and Lancaster County won’t use modified calendars until at least next school year.
In addition to typical holidays, the Clover school calendar this year adds a week off for students each in October and February.
