J. Tanner Curry

We were honored to partner with National Institute for Excellence in Teaching in hosting a 3-day SCTS 4.0 Evaluator Training, bringing together our instructional leadership team, lead teachers, and educational leaders from some of our sister schools in Sumter School District as well as colleagues from a neighboring district for three days of powerful professional learning and collaboration.

This training marks just the beginning of what will be a close and consistent partnership with NIET throughout the coming school year as we continue building on the strong instructional practices already taking place across our school community. Our focus remains clear: investing deeply in our leadership capacity and empowering our teachers so that every classroom delivers Level 3 and 4 instruction and every child experiences the high-quality learning they deserve every single day.

We are excited about the work ahead and committed to making impactful gains that move teaching and learning forward for all students.

Thank you Angelina Burrows for partnering with Furman Middle School. Thank you Laura Tew for your dedication to supporting our growth.

If we are going to honor mothers in education this , then we must be willing to ask harder questions about the cultures we lead.

Do the mothers in our schools feel seen as whole people?

Do they feel supported when life changes?

Do they feel safe enough to name exhaustion without being judged as less committed?

Do they feel permission to care for their own families without guilt?

Do our systems honor the humanity of the people we ask to serve children every day?

Because leadership is not merely about producing outcomes. Leadership is stewardship.

Sacrifice without support eventually becomes depletion. And depletion is not the same as devotion.

This Mother’s Day weekend, we are reflecting on the quiet sacrifices mothers make-the ones many of us did not fully understand until we became adults, spouses, parents, or leaders ourselves.

Especially the mothers in education: The ones who teach other people’s children all day, then go home exhausted and still try to be fully present for their own. The ones who work until the final days of pregnancy to preserve leave. The ones who serve as teacher, nurse, counselor, caregiver, advocate, and safe place.

As leaders, we cannot just admire sacrifice. We have to support the people making it.

Join us on the milk crate this week: https://bit.ly/4uF3Lg5

Honor the sacrifice. Lighten the load. It matters more than you know.

Our Instructional Leadership Team at Furman Middle School recently engaged in intensive cluster training with our National Institute for Excellence in Teaching success coach, the great Ms. Laura Tew, with a focus on facilitating high quality teacher clusters.

Using NIET aligned practices, we strengthened how we lead collaboration, professional development, and data driven conversations to ensure every session is impactful. Teachers leave with clear tools, strategies, and actions that directly support instruction-no time wasted.

This work continues to build strong instructional systems and support consistent development toward stronger Level 3 and Level 4 teaching across our school.