During its meeting on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, the Lexington Count School District One Board of Trustees approved the promotion of M. Elizabeth Whisennant to principal of White Knoll Elementary School. She replaces Nicole Mitchell who was promoted to district elementary schools director. Whisennant, a 15-year educator, currently serves as assistant principal of Lexington Middle School.

In 2006, Whisennant began her career in Lexington District One as a teacher and administrative assistant at Pelion Middle School. She taught computer education and keyboarding to fifth through eighth grade students. At that time, fifth graders attended PMS.

She was promoted to assistant administrator at PMS in 2011. She developed and implemented a positive behavior support system, managed academic intervention plans, planned and conducted professional learning, and revised the school’s emergency response plan.

In 2012, Whisennant became an assistant principal, managing issues related to staff hiring and evaluations, and creating schedules for students. She filled in as interim principal during a time of leave for a former principal, as well.

Whisennant moved to Lexington Middle School to serve as assistant principal in 2017. At LMS, she implemented a student-centered school improvement process and worked to improve communication among staff, students and families. She assessed teachers through classroom observations, led professional learning, established equity-based instructional practices and evaluated educational programs to ensure standards were achieved.

Whisennant earned a Bachelor of Arts in communication and information science, a Master of Arts in teaching, a Master’s Plus 30 in technology education and a Master of Arts in educational administration from the University of South Carolina.

She holds an elementary principal certification, Read to Succeed certification and a Teacher of Children of Poverty endorsement from Francis Marion University. She also completed the district’s Aspiring Principals Academy.

She is a member of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators and was a state finalist for Middle Level Assistant Principal of the Year in 2020.