Doors Open At 7:15 AM Tomorrow as Meeting Street Elementary-Burns and Meeting Street Elementary-Brentwood officially start their extended school day and year in Charleston County
Charleston, SC – For more than 1,000 students in North Charleston, tomorrow is the first day of school. Meeting Street Elementary-Burns, now a Pre-K through 6th grade campus, will welcome sixth-graders for the first time. Meeting Street Elementary-Brentwood, now a Pre-K through 8th grade campus, will welcome eighth graders for the first time. Both schools are neighborhood-serving Public Schools of Innovation and are part of Charleston County School District (CCSD).
“We are renewed and recharged for the upcoming school year,” said new Principal Danielle Washington at MSE-Brentwood, “We have the opportunity to accelerate learning and opportunity for over 700 students and families here in North Charleston. It is a privilege and an urgent responsibility, and we want to start incredibly strong this week.”
Earlier this week on Monday, Meeting Street Academy opened in downtown Charleston. Last week, Meeting Street Academy in Spartanburg, also a Public School of Innovation, opened its doors on July 29, 2021. All four Meeting Street Schools campuses have re-committed to a longer school day and school year for 2021-22.
“Our team of education professionals have worked tirelessly throughout July to get ready for tomorrow,” shared Christopher N. Ruszkowski, CEO of Meeting Street Schools, “We offered summer school in June, we’re starting earlier and ending later, we’re offering new coursework, and we’ve recommitted to our educator performance bonus. So the preparation has been nonstop for our four dynamic principals and their teams.”
Founded in 2008, Meeting Street Schools serves approximately 2,000 students and employs nearly 200 educators across its four campuses across Charleston and Spartanburg. Its network of schools comprises the independent flagship school, Meeting Street Academy – Charleston, as well as three Public Schools of Innovation operated in partnership with Charleston County School District and Spartanburg School District 7. As public schools of innovation, these campuses have the freedom to innovate and operate with greater autonomy while being held accountable in their communities. Meeting Street Schools makes a twenty year commitment to its students, which includes robust early childhood program beginning with 3-year-olds, deep family partnerships, an extended school day and school year, best-in-class curriculum, data-driven decision-making, 20+ days of teacher professional development, and programmatic opportunities for alumni including access to the Meeting Street Scholarship Fund.
