WINNSBORO, SC – Midlands STEM Charter School is excited to announce Mrs. Chantell Berry as the Executive Director/Principal for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. Mrs. Berry will work alongside Dr. Toussaint (TK) Kennedy, who was announced in March as the school’s Chief Executive Officer.
Mrs. Berry is honored to return to South Carolina for her 25th year in education as the 4K-12 Executive Director and Principal of the Midlands STEM Charter School. She will be leading the students and staff as they enter a new facility this summer and welcome 320 additional students.
“I’m thrilled that I will get to lead the Midlands STEM community during this exciting time,” said Mrs. Berry. “I’m thankful that my experiences up until this point have led me to this opportunity and I’m eager to help these students flourish in their new facility.”
Mrs. Berry began her educational career in 1999 after receiving her B.A. in Early Childhood Education and a minor in Spanish from Clark Atlanta University. She served as a teacher in both California and Georgia from 1999-2007 instructing 5th and 6th grade bilingual Spanish. She went on to teach 4th and 5th grade dual language Spanish immersion in Hayward Unified School District (USD) and Los Angeles USD, and then she taught 2nd, 4th, and 5th grade in Cobb County Schools and Fulton County Schools.
She was nominated for Teacher of the Year in 2006 in Fulton County Schools where she served on District Unit Writing Teams to roll out the Georgia Performance Standards. She also served on state level panels as a member of the Standards Setting Team for the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) and the California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) Induction Revision Standards Team.
Mrs. Berry earned her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Kennesaw State University in 2006 and shortly after began her leadership path. From 2008-2012, she served as a vice principal for Pleasanton USD and Lammersville USD. In 2012, she was promoted to principal in Lammersville USD at Wicklund Elementary School.
As a turnaround Principal, she has led charter and traditional school campuses to exceptional student achievement and growth. Her educational philosophy as a school administrator is rooted in transformational and ethical leadership practices.
In 2014, she led two low-performing charter schools for North Texas Collegiate Academy to “Meeting Standard Growth” within one school year. During her time at The Palmetto School charter campus in Rock Hill Schools (York 3), she led the school to a new location and increased participation and enrollment during the 2019-2022 years of virtual learning. Most recently, during her time in Cabarrus County Schools, Mrs. Berry led Winecoff STEM Elementary School to the highest state Education Visualization and Analytics Solution (EVAAS) achievement level of “Exceeding” during the 2022-2023 school year with a student growth level of 86%. This high performance also eliminated Winecoff Elementary from North Carolina’s “Low Performing Schools” list.
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Midlands STEM Charter School is a 4K-12 public, tuition-free charter school in Winnsboro, SC, whose mission is to produce academically and physically fit STEM-proficient students. MSCS offers students a well-rounded education, pairing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) focused classes with subjects like art, theater, and foreign language. MSCS is authorized by the Charter Institute at Erskine.
