Ariel Gilreath covers early education and K-12 schools in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia for The Hechinger Report. She most recently covered education and family issues in South Carolina with the Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network, where she received first place in education reporting from the South Carolina Press Association for her coverage in 2020. She has previously covered education for the Greenville Journal and the Index-Journal in South Carolina. Gilreath graduated from Winthrop University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.