Why is it advantageous to incorporate student data when developing specific teaching strategies? What insights does data provide that makes it useful in the classroom? Stefanie Clarke, the executive director for Accountability, Planning, & Performance of Lee County Schools, shares why.

“Incorporating student data into the development of teaching strategies is advantageous because it grounds instructional decisions in evidence rather than assumptions,” she said. “Data provides clear insight into where students are performing well, where they are struggling, and how their learning is progressing over time.

“By analyzing data, educators can identify patterns in student understanding, uncover gaps in prerequisite skills, determine which students may benefit from differentiated support, and assess whether instructional practices are leading to meaningful growth. Data equips teachers with the information they need to personalize learning and ensure that instructional time is used purposefully to support every student’s success.”

Read More

December 11, 2025

SANFORD — As a principal and assistant principal, Aimee Petrarca had already been a part of four “Head of Class” celebrations during her tenure at Greenwood Elementary School.

So when the Lee County Education Foundation — which launched Head of Class in 2010 to recognize the Lee County elementary school with the best year-over-year academic improvement — announced in 2024 the creation of a new Head of Class prize at the middle school level, Petrarca took note. 

She even took the newspaper clipping of that story to her new job as principal at West Lee Middle School.

“I cut this out and stuck it on my office door,” Petrarca said.

Read More

November, 2025

Sanford- Employers, when hiring, have overwhelmingly asked applicants to come to the job prepared.

The Lee County Education Foundation, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Carolina, is renewing its effort to make sure middle school students in Lee County get a head start on that count.

The Foundation is funding a semester-long Durable Skills Project that proved so successful in Sanford two years ago. Beginning this month, the renewed program will focus on teaching students the 10 specific transferable, long-lasting abilities crucial for success in the workplace and life: Character, Mindfulness, Leadership, Fortitude, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Metacognition, and Growth Mindset. Employers say those higher-order cognitive abilities stay relevant in a changing, technology-driven world.

Read More

September, 2025

SANFORD - The Lee County Education Foundation was honored to be featured at the Sanford Area Growth Alliance’s September Public Policy Luncheon, where Executive Director Wendy Wicker Phillips shared the Foundation’s story, impact, and vision for the future. Since its founding in 2003, LCEF has grown a $1.3 million endowment, distributed more than $2.5 million, and impacted over 10,000 students in Lee County Schools. The presentation highlighted key initiatives that are shaping education locally, including the Head of Class Awards, which celebrate and reward all school staff for student growth; the Temple Sloan Lee County Teaching Fellows Awards, …

Read More

May 21, 2025

SANFORD - One, whose early education took place in Mexico, wants her future students to be inspired and feel cared about. 

The other, a lifelong Lee Countian, wants to be a “bright light” for her students — just as her late grandmother was.

They’re Susann Gonzalez-Ortega and Isabella Miller, soon-to-graduate students from Lee County High School, who’ll be receiving scholarships of up to $36,000 to pursue teaching degrees, and then come back to Lee County as teachers. 

Read More

April 1, 2025

SANFORD — In becoming the inaugural winner of the Ernest and Ruby McSwain Middle School Head of Class prize, principal Natalie Kelly says she and her team at SanLee followed a time-tested formula, one that prior winners of prize utilized at the elementary-school level.

“It was the result of many intentional and strategic actions,” said Kelly, who led the year-over-year academic growth at SanLee Middle School during the 2023-24 school year. “It was no happenstance”…

Read More