Dr. Chavon Browne
From LIMS Student to LIMS Principal
story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER photos by JENNY PHILLIPS
You always remember your school teachers, whether it is in a positive or negative way. For Chavon Browne, her elementary and middle school teachers are what set her on the path to her career, even at the young age of 8 years old.
Dr. Chavon Browne grew up on St. Helena Island, attending St. Helena Elementary, Lady’s Island Middle School, and then, after her family moved to the other side of town, she graduated from Battery Creek High School. “I decided in the second grade that I was going to be a teacher when I grew up. I had several teachers while I was in elementary school that really poured into the students. They made us feel like we could be or do anything. My second grade teacher, Ms. Harvey, was an incredible role model for me as well as other teachers such as Dr. Gibbs, Dr. Gregory-Smalls, and Ms. Warren.”
Chavon graduated high school and attended Clemson University. She had a great college experience in the upstate, doing her student teaching in a fifth grade classroom located in Easley, South Carolina. “It was at that point that I knew for sure that I did not particularly want to work in elementary school … and that is where I ended up in my admin career,” Chavon laughs.
Chavon’s first job was at Whale Branch Middle School in 2003. Whale Branch Middle was operating on a year-round calendar, so when Chavon came in September, she started as a substitute in a 6th grade Social Studies class. Not even a month later, she was asked to take the position full-time. She spent the next six years teaching Ancient World Civilizations to 6th graders. During that time, she went back to school and worked on her master’s in Educational Leadership and Administration at Charleston Southern University.
Dr. Browne’s first and only assistant principal job was at the brand new Red Cedar Elementary School that opened in Bluffton, SC, in 2009. “I had not been exposed to a school environment like that before, especially when it came to the early childhood component. My approach and teaching/leading style changed there.” She also worked with a fantastic principal, Dr. Kathleen Corley, who still remains the only principal to have ever worked at Red Cedar. “I learned so much from her.”
After three years of working as the assistant principal, it was decided that it was time for Chavon to have her own school. She became the principal at Port Royal Elementary School in 2012. When asked if she felt ready to become the head principal of a school after only 3 years as an assistant principal and only 6 years in the classroom, Chavon laughs. “I was turning 29 years old. I feel like all assistant principals believe they are prepared for the job. But there are so many other things that you just are not aware that your principal is doing. I think I was as ready as I could have been.”
Having Port Royal Elementary School as her first school as a principal was a “blessing.” It is a small, very community-based school, and Chavon felt very fortunate. She worked at Port Royal Elementary for 8 years.
In March 2020, all the schools were closed due to COVID-19. Chavon had always been interested in getting back to adolescents, so she took the school closings as an opportunity to put herself out there and see what would happen. There was an opening as the principal of Lady’s Island Middle School. “A lot of people did not understand, because to them, Port Royal Elementary was such a dream job. They would ask me, ‘Are you sure?’ And the short answer to that is: Lady’s Island Middle School is my school. I look at the kids that go here as being just like me at that age.” Chavon thought about those rock star teachers she had when she was a young girl, and she knew that the kids at Lady’s Island Middle needed those kinds of people for themselves too. “They are me, and I am them. It was an opportunity for me to pour into the children who need it the most, just like others had done for me.” Chavon is now going into her fifth year at LIMS.
The first year was unusual as they worked through a combination of hybrid and virtual learning. It allowed Chavon to be reintroduced to middle school without every student being at the school in the very beginning.
“Middle school is fun. You have to be a little different to understand how different the kids are. They have different personalities on any given day, even at different times of the day. It is their adolescence, trying to figure out how to explain what they are thinking and feeling. Many times, they have difficulty trying to communicate. Understanding that allows you to not take things personally. They are in a crisis, to them. You cannot be in a crisis with them, or you won’t be able to help them through it. It takes hard work to meet their needs, without devaluing what they are experiencing.”
Not everyone has the ability to provide to a middle schooler what they need, but Chavon laughs that she still feels like a kid herself. She enjoys the things that the students enjoy, like music, fashion, and more. “It is helpful that I am from the area and from the community. They know that I understand them, and where they’re from. I know a lot of their families, some of them are classmates that I went to school with or grew up with.” Chavon is genuinely invested in the students’ development, and they can feel it.
In the district, there are seven schools that are part of the MedTech7 Medical Magnet Program. Four of the schools in the Beaufort cluster are focusing on a medical profession program while 3 schools in the Whale Branch cluster are focusing on Technology, such as Cyber Security and IT.
At LIMS specifically, they have built a schoolwide medical magnet focus. This gives every student an opportunity to experience and explore careers in the healthcare profession. They have units that they built into the regular science and math curriculum, so that every grade level has some unit that is focused on the health science field. They also have a cohort of students that may be aware even now that they desire to have a career in healthcare. Those students get additional experiences and exposure. Students have been CPR certified, gone through First Aid and babysitting training from the Red Cross and EMTs, and more. “We are trying to show these students that there is a future in healthcare for them, but even more importantly, that not every person has to be a doctor or a nurse. There are so, so many careers that you can pursue in health sciences that do not require 8-10 years of medical school, or excess and unlimited financial commitment. We want to expose them to all their options.”
In the last four years that Chavon has spent working at Lady’s Island Middle School, the school has made significant progress academically. Their report card grades are continuing to increase. “There is a reputation in the community that LIMS is not a great school, but there are so many great things that are happening here and not just in terms of MedTech7.” LIMS Art Department is outstanding. They have an incredible dance program and choir program. Their middle school marching band has recently taken off. The visual arts teacher has added Art 1, which is a high school credit class for kids who are taking off in that direction. They have an amazing STEM program, including their Robotics program. They have been STEM certified and accredited by Cognia, formerly AdvancED, since 2013 and was the first middle school in the nation to receive this recognition. They truly have something for every student. “We have what the kids are interested in. And I hope that what we have to offer won’t be overshadowed by what people might think.”
When she is not working hard at the school, Chavon and her husband, Al, (they have been married for 13 years), spend time taking care of their two children: Brooklyn (10) and Destin (7). The kids are involved in different activities, including basketball, dance, soccer, and now flag football. The family also has a Yorkie named Izzie. They enjoy traveling together, locally, as well as taking destination trips. They spend time with family in the area as well as Al’s family in Georgetown, SC.
Dr. Chavon Browne is making sure that the right things are getting highlighted. She is focused on making sure that Lady’s Island Middle School is one of the top schools in our area and at-large. “Without sounding boastful, we have got it going on. I am really proud and really happy with our accomplishments over the last 4 years. I hope that there are students here who will say the same thing about me and my leadership that I have said about the schools and teachers that I had when I was a kid attending schools in this area.”
