Rhonda Rhodes

Taylors Elementary School
Greenville County Schools
Taylors, South Carolina
rhrhodes@greenville.k12.sc.us

As principal of Taylors Elementary School (TES) for the last five years, Rhonda Rhodes says she aims to foster a climate where success is measured by students’ ability to claim their learning and identify the gifts they want to share with the community. To get there, Rhodes has fostered a foundation with a strong social-emotional environment, led the implementation as a Leader in Me school, and created a comprehensive, student-centered counseling program which earned national recognition from the American School Counselor Association as a RAMP (Recognized ASCA Model Program) School. She has also committed herself to developing teacher leadership among her students, staff, and teachers, calling it “the greatest legacy” she could contribute as principal. In her short tenure at TES, she has implemented a two-year rotation cycle for the Faculty Council, a model that gradually brings every teacher into a leadership position that actively shapes school vision and builds a collective voice on the structure for the coming year. As a result of this work, staff retention has improved, and Taylors has had a Top 10 District Teacher of the Year for the last two years, a significant feat in a district with over 100 schools. Rhodes has served as a teacher and administrator at the middle and elementary school level in various roles since 1993 and is a former district middle school teacher of the year. She holds a B.S. in Elementary Education, a Master’s Degree in Elementary Educational Leadership and Supervision from Clemson University, and has completed coursework for doctoral study in Educational Leadership at the University of South Carolina.