Maureen S. Tiller
Principal
Fountain Inn High School
The first new high school built in Greenville County in over two decades is scheduled to open for ninth grade students in Fountain Inn for the 2021-2022 school year. Fountain Inn High School will provide students with new challenges and opportunities that go above and beyond the standard high school curriculum. The school will serve one thousand students in grades nine through 12 by the 2024-2025 school year with the capacity to expand to serve up to two thousand students as the population grows.
The instructional programs at Fountain Inn High School will include all academic offerings similar to other high schools in Greenville County. Courses in fine arts, Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, and traditional courses will be offered. Athletic programs will open with junior varsity teams in 2021 with full varsity teams established by 2023.
In addition, this comprehensive high school will have a special focus on Career and Technology programs in the areas of Engineering, Computer Science, and Advanced Manufacturing. Advanced career pathways will be accessible to all students through the smaller learning community included in the Institute of Automation and Engineering.
Fountain Inn High School will prepare all students to be college, career, and citizenship ready by offering purposeful pathways to industry recognized certifications as well as associate and bachelor’s degree programs through partnerships with Greenville Technical College and articulation to state colleges and universities. Experiences such as mentoring, job shadowing, service projects, internships and apprenticeships will be woven throughout the pathways to engage students with industry and community partners at each grade level. Students will have opportunities to apply the knowledge they are learning in traditional coursework through project-based learning and connections to their community.
This is an exciting time to be a part of public education in Greenville County. A new high school offers the opportunity to design an instructional program to meet the personalized learning needs of 21st century graduates. Fountain Inn High School will be a model for innovation in South Carolina. Through the unique design of our school facility and cutting-edge instructional programs, we will actively engage students in their own success. I am honored to serve as the first principal and am looking forward to helping guide this process as we create pathways to the future for all students at Fountain Inn High School!
Greenville County Schools is a unified, county-wide school district in Greenville, South Carolina, serving over 76,000 students in 106 schools and centers. The district’s signature initiative, Graduation Plus, focuses on providing engaging opportunities for students to earn college credit and/or industry certifications while completing their high school coursework. Students begin developing areas of interest in elementary school through related arts programs, clubs, a vibrant school-choice program, and project-based lessons that build skills in collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Focused on building graduates aligned to the South Carolina Profile of a Graduate, Graduation Plus helps ensure graduates are college and career ready and poised to be successful, contributing members of society.
Excel Academy
50 Railroad St., Fountain Inn
Excel Academy is Fountain Inn’s newest early childhood education center scheduled to open in 2020 in downtown Fountain Inn. Excel Academy is located behind the Younts Center for Performing Arts in what was originally part of the old Fountain Inn Elementary School. Excel Academy will offer childcare for ages 6 months to 4 years.
Excel Academy is owned by Spike and Amanda Reid, who also own Spike’s After School in Fountain Inn. Spike’s After School was a unique concept of Spike, a former Fountain Inn Police Officer. Spike’s has been operating for 15 years and the Reid family hope to pair Excel Academy with the Spike’s brand and provide parents of the Fountain Inn area all their child care needs.
The goal for Excel Academy is to be a Christian institution with a balance of education and social skill sets. The Reids have hired former, longtime Classy Kids director Dawn Hamilton (wife of FIPD Chief Mike Hamilton) as director of Excel Academy. She brings over 22 years of child care experience to the new facility.
The vision for Excel is to be a hometown child care facility that embraces the closeness and warmth that comes with that small-town feel. Excel hopes to utilize its unique location to create experiences for its children to learn and grow through the wide range of opportunities that will be close by, even within walking distance. The county library is just steps away from Excel’s doors and the Younts Center is a resource that can provide artistic opportunities from singing and art to theater and dance.
Downtown Fountain Inn, with its water fountains, new splash pad and police and fire departments offer the perfect local field trips and learning opportunities. The Reids are even excited to have train tracks across the street and cannot wait for the conductor to wave at the kids on the playground as the train passes by!
With the vision of the Reids and the leadership and experience of Hamilton, Excel Academy hopes to be another reason that makes the Fountain Inn community such a warm and special place to call home.