New principal joins administrative team at Daniel Island School

When the Daniel Island School opens its doors this month for its fourteenth school year, a new principal will welcome students. Nancy Leigh has been appointed the school’s top administrator, replacing Kori Brown, who served as DIS principal for the last three years.

Leigh has over 26 years of experience in education and a diverse professional resume at both the elementary and middle levels. She received her masters in school counseling from the Citadel and a second masters in school administration from Charleston Southern University.

Leigh’s career began at H.E. Bonner Elementary as a teacher, and she later served as a school counselor at Devon Forest Elementary and Macedonia Middle. Leigh has experience as both a title one facilitator and instructional coach, and served Berkeley County as an assistant principal at Westview Elementary, Howe Hall AIMS, and Berkeley Intermediate Schools. She opened Nexton in 2015 as principal and piloted the first One to One technology implementation in the district. Under Ms. Leigh’s leadership, Nexton, like Daniel Island, received an excellent rating on the SC School Report Card. She also led the start of Nexton’s robotics team, Science Olympiad team and Project Lead the Way instruction in K-5. Nexton received Honor Roll Status from SC-SIC for School Improvement Council for outstanding efforts in building the foundations for an effective SIC and exemplifying civic engagement at work for public education.

BCSD leadership is confident that Leigh will work to continue the legacy of success at DIS and identify new challenges and experiences for the children of the Daniel Island community.

Leigh, whose brother is Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis, is the sixth administrator to serve as principal at DIS since the school first opened in 2006. Previous principals have been Carolyn Morris, Lori Dibble, Robert Candillo, Marty French, and Kori Brown.