Mission Statement

Meeting Street Schools (MSS) is a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to the creation of a new mandate for education in South Carolina and beyond. MSS was founded upon the belief that all children deserve an excellent education regardless of their geographic or socioeconomic circumstances, and all children have the ability to excel in the classroom. Where access to quality public education or affordable private alternatives is often severely limited, MSS is providing children with transformational educational opportunities.

Core Values 2022-23

Grit & Grind

We work hard, push-through via tough love & optimism.

Results-Orientation

We set goals, respond to data, care about winning.

Entrepreneurial Spirit

We innovate, create, disrupt, evolve, try again.

Expansive World View

We work proximately, think uber-globally.

Never stop Learning

We study, read, think, reflect, improve.

Our Origin Story

 

Founded in 2008 by philanthropists Ben and Kelly Navarro, Meeting Street Academy-Charleston first opened its doors in a downtown Charleston church to 33 three and four year-olds with the mission of serving and creating opportunities for children that would have otherwise attended unsatisfactory schools. Fourteen years later, Meeting Street Schools serves approximately 2,000 students and employs nearly 400 team members across four campuses in Charleston and Spartanburg. A non-profit organization, its network of schools is comprised of the independent flagship school, Meeting Street Academy – Charleston, a new rural public charter school scheduled to open in Jasper County in Fall 2023, and three Public Schools of Innovation operated in partnership with Charleston County School District and Spartanburg School District 7. As South Carolina public schools of innovation, these campuses have the freedom to innovate and operate with greater autonomy while being held accountable in their communities.

 

From the archivesOur Story (2014)

 

 

Our FoundersBen and Kelly Navarro

Our founders are two action-oriented entrepreneurs and philanthropists who call Charleston home and felt a responsibility to act 15 years ago. Ben and Kelly Navarro were prompted by the fundamental unfairness of a system that fails to teach 4 out of every 5 underserved students to read at grade level, a failure that often is perpetuated by civic and governmental systems’ inaction.

Starting a school is possibly the hardest thing the Navarros could have done in response to these truths. So it was a labor of love when they put their own resources and toil into the formation of an independent, community-based school serving students from underresourced communities in order to provide the same level of quality that their own children experienced.

Our Schools

MSA – Charleston

Pre-K3 To 6th


Downtown Charleston, SC

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MSA – Spartanburg

Pre-K3 To 5th


Downtown Spartanburg, SC

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MS – Brentwood

Pre-K3 To 8th


North Charleston, SC

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MS – Burns

Pre-K3 To 6th


North Charleston, SC

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MS – Jasper & Beaufort

K To 1st


Jasper County, SC

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News & NotesFounding Principal, Tamil Goodson, Guest Hosts on Kids First Radio Show: Shares Passion and Vision for Meeting Street – Jasper & Beaufort

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News & NotesCongratulations: MSA-C Class of 2016 Graduates From High School and Heads to College and Career

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Our Schools

MSA – Charleston

Pre-K3 To 6th


Downtown Charleston, SC

Learn More

MSA – Spartanburg

Pre-K3 To 5th


Downtown Spartanburg, SC

Learn More

MS – Brentwood

Pre-K3 To 8th


North Charleston, SC

Learn More

MS – Burns

Pre-K3 To 6th


North Charleston, SC

Learn More

MS – Jasper & Beaufort

K To 1st


Jasper County, SC

Learn More

CommunityVoices

  • 1/3

“MSA is a family. Once you’re in, you’re in. They said they would follow our kids from K-3 to college and they actually lived up to what they said they would do. Not only did MSA challenge my daughter academically but it also exposed her to new things that she probably wouldn’t have been exposed to at our previous neighborhood school. Our journey at MSA was exciting and rewarding. They actually walk the walk.”

— Tyeka GrantParent

  • 2/3

“Meeting Street Academy is my family. They taught me that I am valuable. I am an asset to the world…They asked me, ‘What is your dream?’ I had never been asked that before. The MSS community gives me the strength to pursue my dreams.”

— Kadelyn SteedStudent

  • 3/3

“We come into work everyday truly believing that our students are capable of achieving anything that is put in front of them. Here at MSS, students are provided the opportunity to achieve success through the facilitation of well-educated teachers, resources, and a responsive classroom school environment.”

— NikToshia GilesTeacher

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