Case Study: Spartanburg School District 2 achieves better teacher work-life balance and higher staff engagement with ThoughtExchange

Transforming teacher work-life balance with Thoughtexchange

Spartanburg County School District Two (SCSD2), a high-performing South Carolina district of 15 schools serving over 10,000 students, discovered in 2016 that many teachers felt overworked and disconnected from life outside the classroom. Leadership, surprised by those findings despite prior successes, wanted to understand staff experience and test whether changes would improve work‑life balance.

SCSD2 ran two Thoughtexchange Advanced Exchanges (including the Star Step prioritization) to gather confidential staff input, then used the data to collapse low‑impact initiatives, protect instructional planning time and make targeted changes. A year later a follow-up exchange showed improved morale and teacher enthusiasm, more engaged students in positive classroom environments, and an increase in job applicants — outcomes leadership called transformative.

Spartanburg School District 2

Scott Mercer

Superintendent