Guidance Department

The Guidance Department at Midlands STEM Charter School is dedicated to supporting every student’s academic, social, and emotional growth. From course planning to college and career readiness, our team is here to guide students every step of the way, helping them build confidence and achieve their goals.

Director of Counseling

Renee Witherspoon

With 37 years of experience in education, Mrs. Witherspoon brings a deep commitment to student growth and success. A graduate of South Carolina State University, she has dedicated her career to supporting young people both academically and personally. She is passionate about working with students because each day presents new opportunities to connect, guide, and inspire. Believing that every child is unique, she strives to help each student succeed in their own way.

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Workbased Coord. & Career Counslor

Gerald Jenkins

Gerald Jenkins a 1996 graduate of Ruffin Hgh and a 2002 graduate of Claflin University in Child Development and 2005 individual and Family Development and 2014 graduate of SC State in Counselor Education in 2023 Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Lighthouse Institute. Number of experiences in education ranging from Business teacher, Principal, Dean of Students and for the last 12 years a secondary level counselor. I love nature and outdoor activities and movies on the big screen and live events. He is the proud dad of Gerald Caleb and Cheyenne Jenkins.

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Individual Graduation Plan

An Individual Graduation Plan (IGP) is a flexible school document that students, parents/guardians, and school counselors create to help students focus on interests, abilities, and academic and career goals. It guides students toward meeting high school graduation requirements as well as entering postsecondary education and training

Dual Enrollment

Dual enrollment is when a student is enrolled in a high school and college at the same time. DE students take courses that count for college credit. Midlands Technical College offers dual enrollment as an option to high school students who live in Fairfield, Lexington, and Richland counties. These courses may be taken on high school campuses, one of the MTC campuses, online or virtually.

If a student takes at least six credit hours from MTC per semester, students may attend DE@MTC for free thanks to the South Carolina Lottery Tuition Assistance Program and South Carolina Workforce & Industry Needs Scholarship. There may be forms that students need to submit in order for courses to be tuition free, such as the Lottery https://studentscholarships.org/Tuition Assistance waiver. Check with our dual enrollment counselors to learn more.

https://www.midlandstech.edu/DualEnrollment

Uniform Grading

The SC General Assembly directed the state board to develop a uniform grading scale. Beginning with the 2016-17 school year, all grades will be recorded using the 10-Point Grading Scale provided by the South Carolina Department of Education. Two categories may receive additional weighting at the high school level: an additional .5 for Honors; and 1.0 for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and dual credit courses. These weightings are built into the following conversion chart:

https://ed.sc.gov/newsroom/school-district-memoranda-archive/implementation-of-a-10-point-grading-scale/memo/