- Jason Sims, Principal, Laurel Hill Primary School
- Rachel Young, Principal, Montessori Community School
Jason Sims
Charleston County School District (CCSD) is excited to announce and welcome Jason Sims as principal at Laurel Hill Primary School effective July 1, 2023. Sims has served as assistant principal at Laurel Hill Primary for the last five years. Current Laurel Hill Principal Ashley Dorsey is transitioning to lead James B. Edwards Elementary at the conclusion of the 2022-2023 school year.
An advocate for early childhood education, Sims has served his entire career in the primary grades. He began his career in 2004 as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years in Concord, North Carolina. In 2014, he moved to Mount Pleasant and joined the CCSD family, teaching first grade and kindergarten at Laurel Hill.
Since becoming assistant principal at Laurel Hill in 2018, Sims has led professional development opportunities for staff and served as the school’s Multi-Tiered Systems and Supports (MTSS) chairperson. He also formed Laurel Hill’s Loggerhead Advisory Board, which brought together the work of the School Improvement Council (SIC) and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to make improvements around the school. Sims was also instrumental in Laurel Hill’s accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), successfully leading the accreditation renewal in 2018, as well as leading the current renewal set for this fall.
Rachel Young
Charleston County School District (CCSD) is excited to announce and welcome Rachel Young as principal at Montessori Community School (MCS) effective July 1, 2023. Young has served as assistant principal at Montessori Community for the last two years. Current Montessori Community Principal Kim Hay is set to retire at the conclusion of the 2022- 2023 school year.
Young began her journey in Montessori education as a young child where she attended a Montessori school from two years of age through grade six. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Young took courses to become a certified Montessori Primary teacher and a certified Montessori Lower Elementary teacher. She taught in both Primary and Lower Elementary classrooms for 17 years in California and Michigan. She later co-owned and operated a private Montessori school in Ann Arbor, Michigan serving 275 students.
In 2014, Young moved to Charleston to become involved in the growth of public Montessori programs in CCSD. She went back into the classroom for two years at East Cooper Montessori Charter School in Mount Pleasant before being hired as the instructional coach at Murray-LaSaine Montessori School (MLMS) in 2016. While at MLMS, Young coached and supported teachers at every level and served as a mentor for several new teachers. She designed and delivered Montessori-based professional development for the staff and teachers at MLMS, as well as for staff and teachers at five other Montessori schools in CCSD. She also helped the school craft a positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) model that was compatible with Montessori philosophy and implemented a formal check-in, and check-out (CICO) program for students needing Tier 2 behavioral support. Additionally, she was a guest lecturer at the College of Charleston teaching early childhood education students about Montessori pedagogy.
