Welcoming Mr. Dean Wilkins as Our New Principal!

• The Process for selecting the principal, student-wise

Selected students from Palmetto Scholars Academy participated in a student panel that asked questions to the different 2022-2023 principal candidates. The three candidates were Mr. George John Black, Dr. Pamella Fiander, and Mr. Dean Wilkins, which all interviewed over the course of three days. There were students from 6-12th grade asking questions in order to learn more about the principal candidates, these questions were such as: what they see in the future of PSA, what they have done at other schools, and also questions about their backgrounds. The three candidates answered the questions professionally to make it clear to the students what they want for the future of Palmetto Scholars Academy.

• Dr. Dean Wilkins

The last candidate coming to Palmetto Scholars Academy was Dr. Dean Wilkins. He came on Monday, Apr 25, 2022. He has over seven years of experience in Charter School leadership, as well as serving in the roles of Assistant Principal and Director of Academic Programs. He has worked in charter schools ranked #1 and #5 in terms of college readiness in 2021 by U.S. News & World Report. He has also worked as a chemistry teacher in schools in Europe. He says he has a collaborative leadership style “with a focus on supporting teachers to improve classroom instruction.” His degrees span STEM and Education.

As Mr. Wilkins opened up his Q&A with students, he introduced his plan of having safety as the number one priority in the school. With safety, he believes in having an SEL, social-emotional learning, and priority in the school to know that everyone who is a student is safe in their own environment. He has experience being in a charter school and having administration in the top charter schools, which can possibly carry over to Palmetto Scholars Academy. Giving students a voice is very important to him. Palmetto Scholars Academy also has a limited course selection for students, and Mr. Wilkins is willing to expand that for the student's sake for their own discovery. He also agrees to have an open-door policy, meaning his room is always open for students to come in and voice their opinions, concerns, and thoughts. Clubs and extracurriculars are very important to him because without the different experiences, then the school would just be academic, which he doesn't support. He supports the balance of academics and extracurriculars in the school.