‘A staff that loves kids’: Rivelon, Edisto merge as school year starts

“We have had such a great opening this morning,” Edisto Primary School Principal Dr. Steven Preast said.

Preast said the merger has been “extremely smooth, personnel-wise and for students-wise.”

Rivelon Elementary has now closed, with its students now attending Edisto. It’s the first significant implementation of the district’s $190 million school improvement plan.

Preast credits the smooth transition to the meetings held with Rivelon Elementary parents and students, as well as staff, prior to Monday’s first day of school.

Preast said the merger was needed.

“If you ever had the opportunity to go to Rivelon, they needed either a new school or to come to a school that is appropriate for them,” Preast said. “Children are children. Teachers – they accept them. Our staff accepts everybody. It worked out really well.”

“We have grown tremendously,” he said. “Our classrooms are full. For the first time ever, we have a lot of students who want to come to us from out of our zone. For the first time ever, I have to stop first grade and second grade because we are so big. We have never had that happen.”

“We got to a point from our out-of-zone students, those who were coming from Calhoun County, Bamberg County or even out of our Edisto and Rivelon zones, they want to come here as well,” Preast said. “I attribute that to our staff. We have a staff that loves kids. They are passionate about teaching and they put children first.”

The school has gone from about 520 to 740 students and has seen its teaching staff increase from 40 to about 60 teachers. In total, Preast said the school has about 120 staff.

“We have added cafeteria workers, we have added another custodian,” he said “We had to so we could keep all the classrooms clean.”

Despite the larger school, Preast said students will not see any changes in classroom instruction.

“The same thing that they were doing at Rivelon is the exact same thing we are doing here,” Preast said. “The children who have been in the 4K program are now moving up to kindergarten and first grade and second grade. They are already aware of the curriculum of ‘Wit and Wisdom’ and aware of the curriculum of ‘Eureka.’”

Orangeburg County School District Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster said, “Today marks not only the exciting first day of school in Orangeburg County, but also a new chapter in our community’s educational journey.

“With the merger of Edisto Primary School and Rivelon Elementary School, we are embracing a unified vision for excellence and innovation. The laughter of students stepping into schools resonates with hope, embodying our commitment to fostering an environment where every child can thrive and succeed.”

Edisto Primary School first-grade teacher Mary “Silene” Stephens, who was named the school’s 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year and the runner-up for the district’s Teacher of the Year, expressed her excitement about the merger.

“I am excited to really get a chance to go beyond just our school and hopefully with the merger, we will get to do more community things and pull in other people from other parts of the county to do some exciting things like we do here at Edisto Primary,” Stephens said.

Stephens’ class size so far is about six students smaller than last year.

“I really think since we have some more teachers in the building, our principals have worked really, really hard to make sure that we have smaller class sizes so we can effectively give them the instruction we need,” she said.

Dr. LaToya Williams, a 5K teacher, said the merger is a “great idea.”

“I think it will be a wonderful experience for the parents, the teachers, the staff and the students,” she said.

Williams, who taught pre-K at Rivelon last year, will have about nine or ten more students.

“I have taught kindergarten before, so the bigger class is fine because I have experienced that before,” Williams said. “I think the learning experience will be great over here. The students will be very engaged. They will learn from a lot of different teachers. Learning will be fun and exciting and I’m ready to see everything that will come about from this.”

School district officials say the change allows them to create a larger school with more resources that will cater to residents in the western part of Orangeburg County.

The merger was also cited as a cost-saving and educational improvement measure for students in both schools.

According to a districtwide facilities assessment study, it would have cost about $14 million to bring Rivelon up to a minimum standard.

Edisto Primary, meanwhile, had a full wing that was not being used.

Rivelon and Edisto Primary exclusively serve early learners in pre-kindergarten through second grade. They had bordering attendance lines and were about four miles from each other.

In preparation for the merger, improvements were made at Edisto Primary, including to the roof and floors. The school also saw painting and lighting improvements.

The district also improved security, including installing a security fence where students transition from one building to another.

Edisto Primary will honor Rivelon on a wall that will include a plaque and items from the school.

The Orangeburg County School District Board of Trustees in May voted to donate the closed Rivelon to Orangeburg County for community use. The county has not publicly identified a specific use for the building.

The former Nix Elementary School was also donated to the county. Nix currently serves as district office space.

No money was exchanged as part of the property transactions.