Marquice Clark of Spartanburg is the 2025 South Carolina Elementary Principal of the Year.
On Monday, the South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA) named Clark, principal of The Cleveland Academy of Leadership in Spartanburg School District Seven, South Carolina Elementary Principal of the Year.
Clark was surprised by the news at the Spartanburg School District 7 District Office, where he was greeted with a cake, balloons, and flowers and several of his longtime supporters.
Under Clark's guidance, the Cleveland Academy has reduced discipline referrals and improved academic proficiency—raising proficiency in ELA from 20% to 52%, math from 13% to 58%, and science from 7% to 55%, according to Moore.
"He has demonstrated that transformative leadership can yield significant results," Moore said.Clark’s third-grade teacher, Bill Austin, who lives in Sumter, where Clark grew up, was in attendance. According to District 7, Austin was the teacher who "turned him around" in school and set him on the path that led to Monday's announcement.
During the announcement, his daughter, Charlotte, a first grader at Cleveland, and Tyjuan Rimmer, a Spartanburg High School senior he taught in second grade, presented him with a bouquet.
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