TruVista and the Fairfield County School District announced their partnership in constructing the first of its kind education initiative in the state of South Carolina at “The Village in Winnsboro, a Community of Fairfield Educators”.
The Technology Center is intended to appeal to teachers across the district as a place where they can come to find cutting-edge resources and tools that will enhance their teaching capabilities. It will also serve as a hub for innovation, professional development, and collaboration for teachers in a district where retention has been a major problem.
Working with TruVista’s Director of Market Development for South Carolina Brian Winland, the Technology Center will be equipped with community Wi-Fi and multi-gigabit internet speeds provided by TruVista. It will also feature a WebEx board the teachers can use for screen shares and online meetings, a digital whiteboard, and a large shared meeting space with smaller collaborative rooms.
Seventeen residences will be open for move-in this fall and The Fairfield County School District Education Foundation board of directors selected the educators from a lengthy list of teacher applicants.
They used a completely blind process based on a set of requirements, then hired a property management company and rental management company to work together to make the selections.
Teachers across the district and beyond were invited to apply but according to Veronica Thomas, a Fairfield Central High School math teacher, former district Teacher of the Year recipient, and instructor at the Fairfield County Adult Education Center, longevity is one of the main requirements.
“Because the Village in Winnsboro is primarily a teacher recruitment and retention tool, the longer you have been teaching in the district, the better the teacher’s chances were at being selected,” she said.
Thomas is one of the teachers chosen for the first residential houses to open this fall. She has been with the district for nine years. The average teacher longevity for that district is three years. Although she knew it would be competitive, she felt she had a good chance of being selected.
“Their recruitment and retention theory works because prior to this year, I was looking around and had an opportunity to move on. A reasonably priced brand-new home in the Village in Winnsboro gives me a reason to stay, at least three or four more years” she admits.
The initial residential community features a mixture of 17 three-bedroom, two bath, one story; or three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath, two-story standalone houses. The community will also be equipped with TruVista high speed internet and optional automation and security services.
“I currently rent a two-bedroom townhouse and the rent is nearly three times that,” Thomas explains. “To have a brand new three-bedroom home complete with appliances including washers and dryers, no yardwork, and only minimal annual rent increases for under $1,000 a month is for me, and I am sure for a lot of other teachers, a great opportunity,”
Nine more lots will be available for future expansion and the FCSD Education Foundation continues to seek donations and support to realize the full potential of The Village in Winnsboro, and to serve the waiting list of teachers for the housing.
Both the residential development and Village in Winnsboro Technology Center will be opening this fall. TruVista will be providing all the high-speed broadband service for the residential section as well as the technology center. The idea for the groundbreaking Village in Winnsboro residential community and technology center has been in the works for more than a decade.
Fairfield County is a rural South Carolina school district serving about 2,500 students, 75% of whom reside outside of the county. The district has always faced ongoing challenges in attracting and retaining qualified teachers.
The FCSDEF envisions The Village in Winnsboro as a transformative project that will set a precedent for other rural districts facing similar challenges.
