Mr. Don Hardie is an experienced and accomplished South Carolina educator of 17 years. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 1995, a M.Ed. in Secondary Mathematics and a M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina (USC) in 2003 and 2005 respectively. He earned an Educational Specialist in Educational Leadership and Policies (Ed. S.) in 2017 and is currently pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy at USC.

He began his educational career as a math teacher at Airport High School in Lexington County School District Two, where he coached basketball and baseball. He became Nationally Board Certified in 2003 in Adolescence and Young Adulthood Mathematics and a certified teacher in AP Calculus in 2004. After teaching mathematics for five years, he became an administrative assistant at Airport High School. In 2005, he served as the assistant principal at Busbee Middle School in Lexington County School District Two.  Following the 2007 school year he served as the Mathematics Coordinator for District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties and the principal of the Academy For Success in 2010. In 2016, he was named principal at Saluda Middle School in Saluda County. 

During Mr. Hardie’s tenure at Saluda Middle School, he led many successful initiatives and programs including, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), one-to-one mobile technology, data team implementation, and curriculum development. Saluda Middle School increased their percentage of proficient students in Math and English every year that Mr. Hardie was the principal. Mr. Hardie also serves on the South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA) executive committee.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve the community of White Knoll Middle as principal,” Mr. Hardie said. “I am excited to get started and begin meeting and working with the faculty, staff, students, and parents to continue providing a high-quality education in a positive learning environment.”

Remember, we can accomplish anything when we do it together.

Mrs. Schilit is a proud member of the War Hawk family since 2015.  She started out teaching Social Studies at Spring Valley High School, then moved into the role of an assistant principal for the last 13 years.  She worked for two years as the Social Studies Specialist in Richland District Two prior to joining the WKMS staff.  She is excited to be a part of Lexington One and White Knoll Middle School because of our commitment to offering engaging and excellent instruction to our students.  WKMS is committed to personalized learning and being on the cutting edge of technology by delivering content to our students through a blended learning structure in the classroom and participation in the Dynamic Learning Project with Google.  All WKMS staff is committed to knowing our students and creating a culture of caring as a school that is implementing Capturing Kids Hearts.

She believes that the middle school years are some of the toughest in a student’s educational experience, but educators at WKMS are here to support and guide all of our students.  These three years of middle school are formative in developing the habits and belief systems that guide our young students into their high school careers and life after high school. Her sole reason for becoming a teacher was to help students, and it remains her goal today.  She loves what she does and loves the students we work with here at White Knoll Middle School!

From 1995 to 2007, Mrs. Thom taught social studies, English, reading, and AVID in SC schools. In 2007, she transitioned to administration by becoming an assistant administrator at Blythewood High in Richland School District Two. In this role, she supervised support staff, assisted with discipline, conducted safety procedures, and supported professional development.

Thom served as assistant principal of Lake Carolina Elementary from 2010 to 2012 and at Summit Parkway Middle School from 2012 to 2013. In 2013, she was promoted to principal of Longleaf Middle School. During her tenure, student academic success increased and teacher turnover rates lowered. She established the district’s first schoolwide STEAM magnet program, implemented the STEAM curriculum, and designed a new master schedule. 

Thom joined Lexington District One in 2017 as an ELA interventionist at WKMS. While serving as the school’s ELA department chair, she developed an instructional intervention plan to support at-risk students and launched a data wall to track student progress.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in education from the University of South Carolina Aiken and a Master of Education in educational administration from the University of Cincinnati, and an Educational Specialist from South Carolina State University, where she is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education. 

She holds certifications in social studies, elementary education, and secondary education. A National Board Certified Teacher, she also has gifted and talented endorsement.

As an educator for 11 years, Mr. Bailey spent the first 10 years of his teaching career in Lexington School District Two, at Pine Ridge Middle School and Airport High School. At these two schools, he was the student council sponsor, a social studies teacher and director of all student activities for both schools. He also served student leaders in our state by serving on the executive board of the South Carolina Association of Student Councils for 10 years. In 2021, he moved to Meadow Glen Middle School in Lexington School District One where he taught 6th grade social studies and completed the Aspiring Assistant Principal program with the district.