Wes Hickman (202-224-5972) or Kevin Bishop (864-250-1417)

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today announced Florence School District One will receive a $3,999,935 Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) Grant. The SLC program is designed to promote academic achievement through small, safe, and successful learning environments in large high schools. The funds will be used at five high schools in Florence and Darlington including: Darlington, Hartsville, South Florence, West Florence and Wilson. The funds will be used to create highly personalized school-within-a-school environments in each high school. The program, known as STARS (Small Teams Achieving Results for Students), will use instructional strategies, services, and interventions to boost overall academic performance and narrow the achievement gap in student subgroups. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. ####