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Charles Spencer At A Glance

Located in southeast Tifton, Georgia, Charles Spencer Elementary School is a public fourth through sixth grade elementary school that currently serves a student population of 584. Constructed in 1956, Charles Spencer Elementary School was originally named Southside Elementary School. The school, however, was renamed in 1973 for its first and longtime principal, Charles Spencer. The school was built to serve grades one through six. Spencer was changed in 1974 to serve grades one through five, and in 1979, kindergarten was added. From 1979 until 1998, Charles Spencer served grades kindergarten through four, and in 1998 it was reconfigured to include pre-kindergarten, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. The physical plant was expanded to include sixteen classrooms, five resource rooms, a music room, and a physical education gymnasium. The pre-kindergarten was moved to the Preschool Center at the old Annie Belle Clark location on Twelfth Street at the beginning of the 2003-04 school year, thus leaving Spencer with its current grade alignment of grades 4-6.

About Our Namesake

Charles Spencer, first principal of Charles Spencer Primary SchoolCharles Waller Spencer was born September 20, 1914 in Fairview, Alabama. He attended Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where he received his undergraduate degree. Mr. Spencer earned his graduate degree at Georgia Southern College in Statesboro, Georgia. He was principal of Brookfield Elementary beginning in 1949. He later became principal of Fernandina Beach Elementary in 1953. Mr. Spencer was the first principal of Southside Elementary which opened in 1957.

Mr. Spencer’s hobbies included gardening and fishing. He planted many of the azaleas at Southside Elementary and cared for them himself. He took great pride in the upkeep of Southside Elementary.

Charles married Ethelle Haman Spencer who became a third grade teacher at Annie Belle Clark Elementary. They had one daughter, Dr. Sue Spencer, who is an Associate Professor of Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina. She is in the Department of Teacher Pedagogy.

Dr. Spencer says of her father, “He was before his time in promoting social justice and educational equity for children at risk.”

Southside Elementary was renamed in 1973 for its well-loved first and longtime principal, Charles Spencer.

Teacher Facts

  • Currently, our longest serving staff members at Charles Spencer are Servilla Edwards and Louise Ray, both of whom came in the fall of 1981.
  • The teacher with the most years of experience is Susan Kennedy with 30+ years.
  • We have 12 teachers with master’s degrees and 5 teachers with specialist’s degrees.
  • The teacher to student ratio is 1 teacher to every 17.3 students.
  • There are currently 584 students in our school.  There are 188 sixth graders, 206 fifth graders, and 190 fourth graders.
  • Students at Charles Spencer are provided with computers to use in class.  The student to computer ratio is five to one.

Accelerated Reader Program

Charles Spencer is extremely involved in Accelerated Reader.  Be sure to visit the Media Accelerated Reader page

Timeline

1957 – Southside Elementary opens serving grades 1-6. Charles        Spencer was the principal, and remained in this role until 1972.

Betty Burnside, Principal1972 – Elizabeth (Betty) Burnside became principal, and remains principal until 1987.

1973 - The school’s name was changed to Charles Spencer honoring its first principal

1974 – Grade alignment changed to serve grades 1-5

1979 – Kindergarten was added

1979 – Charles Spencer Elementary served grades K-4

Charlotte Dechert, Principal1987 – Charlotte Dechert became principal, and remained principal until 1998.

1998 – Grade alignment changed to include Pre-K and grades 4-6

Rosemary Alexander, Principal1998 – Mrs. Rosemary Alexander became principal, and remained principal until 2006.

2003 – Pre-K was moved to the Preschool Center on 12th Street and the grade alignment became grades 4-6

Craig Matthews, Principal2006 – Craig Matthews became principal, and remained princpal until 2007.

Beverly Harrison, Principal2007 – Beverly Harrison is the current principal