South Fant, West Market Earn Top Performance Designation

 The early childhood and education centers at South Fant and West Market have been honored for achieving the highest performance level possible under the state’s ABC Child Care Program. Early childhood programs that earn the top designation represent only about 2 percent of all ABC providers.

 “South Fant was our very first program to go through the new ABC Level A assessment process and score so high that it earned the AA performance designation on its first assessment,” said Leigh Bolick, director of the ABC Child Care Program for the state Department of Social Services. West Market earned the same designation by having its program accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

 District Five was one of the first school districts in the state to make early childhood education a priority, with its first program beginning in 1964. Early childhood education has continued in the district for 46 years. The original center, which in its early years was housed at the former Perry School, has been replaced by two state-of-the-art early childhood centers at South Fant and West Market.

In 1972, the district’s early childhood program was the first program in the Southeast to receive accreditation from the South Association of Colleges and Schools at a time before NAEYC had even begun accrediting early childhood programs. Similarly, District Five’s partnership with the state’s child development program began originally with funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission before a separate state office responsible for child care had been established.

 In the early 1970s, Dr. William B. Royster, the District Five superintendent at the time, noted that the district early childhood program had been noted in the Congressional Record as a model. He said at the time that all South Carolina schools were told to use the District Five program as a model, and the program was being copied by at least 15 school districts in other states.

 “These two programs – South Fant and West Market – in Anderson School District Five represent the best of ABC,” Mrs. Bolick said. “This district has served eight generations of young children in these programs. You have truly embraced the pursuit of excellence and it shows – in our recognition of your Level AA status at the state level, in your accreditation at the national level with NAEYC, and most importantly in the faces of the children and the families that you serve every day. We are so proud to recognize you today and to partner with you in the pursuit of excellence for early care and education.”