Administrators
Principal
Michelle Smith
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Biography:
An award-winning educator with 26 years of experience, Smith began her educational career in 1995 as an instructional assistant at Pelion Elementary School. The following year, she moved to Busbee Middle School in Lexington School District Two to teach math. In 2002, Smith returned to Lexington District One to teach eighth-grade science at Pelion Middle School. Smith also taught English language arts and social studies while at PMS.
In 2006, Smith was promoted to administrative assistant at PMS; in 2008, she joined the team at FPES to serve as the school’s assistant principal. In 2011, Smith became the principal of FPES. Under her leadership, FPES was designated as a Red Carpet School by the S.C. State Department of Education in 2010. The school was also named a Title I Reward School for Performance in 2012 and 2013 and a Leader in Me Lighthouse School in 2016. In addition, FPES received three 21st Century Community Learning Center grants during her tenure as principal.
Smith received her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina Aiken, a master’s degree in elementary and middle school education as well as a second master’s degree in administration from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. She received the 2009–10 State Administrator of the Year award from the South Carolina Early Childhood Association. Smith is a member of the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, the South Carolina Early Childhood Association, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Assistant Principals
Jessica Robbins
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Biography:
An 18-year-long educator, Robbins began her career in 2006 as an English teacher at White Knoll High School in Lexington School District One, where she taught English I and English II Honors. While at White Knoll High School, she was honored with the “Most Influential Teacher” award from a High SAT Scoring Senior.
In 2012, she became an Assistant Principal at Pleasant Hill Middle School in Lexington School District One. During the ten years she led at PHMS, Robbins assisted the Fine Arts Team in obtaining an ABC Grant, and the school was awarded over $75,000 in funding for the Fine Arts Program. Robbins also implemented and coordinated a sixth grade transition program called Where Everybody Belongs (WEB).
Robbins joined Rocky Creek Elementary School in 2022 as an Assistant Principal. She served on Lexington District One’s Secondary Grading Practices Team, Transportation Collaboration Focus Group, Drug Violation Committee, and Accident Prevention Committee and completed the Lexington One Aspiring Principals Program in 2023. Robbins has also presented at several state and national conferences and has published her writing both professionally and personally.
Robbins earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Master of Teaching in English Education (Secondary Level), a Master of Education in Language and Literacy, a Master of Education in School Leadership, and an Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina. She holds certifications in English, Reading Teacher, Literacy Teacher, Literacy Coach, Literacy Specialist, Elementary Principal, Secondary Principal and Supervisor, and Superintendent, as well as endorsements in Masters +30 Classification, Read 2 Succeed Literacy Teacher, Coach, Specialist, and Gifted and Talented.
Kristen Smalley
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Biography:
A 14-year-long educator, Smalley began her career in 2007 as an elementary teacher in Gastonia, North Carolina, where she taught various grades for seven years before moving to South Carolina. While in North Carolina, she earned a school-level Teacher of the Year award in 2013–2014.
In 2014, she became a fifth grade teacher at Saluda River Academy for the Arts in Lexington School District Two. During the three years she taught in West Columbia, her students’ state test scores increased by 20%.
Smalley joined Lexington District One in 2017 as a fourth grade teacher at Gilbert Elementary School. While there, her classroom served as an English language arts model classroom, and her outstanding teaching earned her GES’s Teacher of the Year in 2019–2020.
In 2020, she was promoted to the position of instructional mathematics coach. In this role, she collaborated with teachers to plan and implement lesson plans focused on content standards and excellent teaching practices. Using data, she worked with teachers to develop small-group math instruction for students designed to increase their math knowledge and proficiency.
She served on Lexington District One’s Teacher Leadership Council and FPES’s School Improvement Council and Instructional Leadership Committee. She mentors students-teachers and new teachers, and led a fourth-grade English language arts model classroom.
Smalley earned a Bachelor of Arts in early childhood education from University of Mount Union and a Master of Arts in executive leadership from Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. She holds certifications in early childhood and elementary education, as well as elementary and secondary administration.