St. Helena school will teach Grades 6 through 12
From staff reports
“These are the best five words you will hear today,” South Carolina Public Charter School District Chairman of the Board John Payne said. “Congratulations. You are a school.”
So now the really hard work begins.
On Thursday, April 27, the S.C. Public Charter School (PCSD) District Board of Trustees approved unanimously the charter school application for Sea Islands Heritage Academy to launch Grades 6 through 8 and conditionally approved Grades 9 through 12.
“We are thrilled to bring a community-based charter school to the students of Beaufort County that will be located on historic St. Helena,” Executive Director Alana Jenkins said in a news release. “A personalized education approach with a career focus will help students of all abilities find success after high school and achieve their dreams.”
The school plans to provide 585 6th- through 12th-grade students with an educational experience that empowers and prepares all scholars to recognize their talent and help determine, pursue, and succeed in the future of their choice.
The school will offer a comprehensive college preparatory program that includes Advanced Placement (AP) courses, dual enrollment opportunities, and a robust extracurricular program that includes athletics, clubs, and community service.
Sea Islands is looking to pull students from school zones with between 54 and 93% of their students in poverty and some where fewer than 20% of the students are proficient in English and Language Arts and math.
Three charter schools – Beaufort County School District’s Riverview Charter School and PCSD’s Bridges Preparatory School and Lowcountry Montessori – already serve northern Beaufort County.
Chris Ophardt, former Beaufort County Public Information Officer, a member of the Sea Islands Heritage Academy’s Board of Trustees and a parent of four, said that Sea Islands would be able to hold its own despite the competition for students. He contended that with all the building going on, the schools in northern Beaufort County would be filling up, and with the school’s ability to educate students on their own individual tracks, Sea Islands Heritage Academy would “stand out” to the parents of potential scholars.
Jenkins drawn to the Lowcountry
Jenkins is a Fellow at BES, a national nonprofit that identifies and prepares leaders to transform education in their communities. Previously, she worked at Coney Island Prep in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she served as Dean of Students and Vice Principal, managing teacher and curricular development.
Prior to this, Jenkins spent a number of years as a classroom reading and writing teacher at high-performing public charter schools across New York. She received her Master’s in teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education and holds a Bachelor’s in English literature from Middlebury College.
Jenkins believes that community-centered schools are the cornerstone to achieving educational equity. She feels drawn back to South Carolina by her familial lineage to found and lead such a school. The proposed school will leverage self determination and self actualizations inherent to the Gullah Geechee heritage.
Through individualized plans of study, students will have access to college and career pathways that speak to the conservation and preservation of the cultural lineage, as well as the natural environment. “Our school will be an educational experience that affirms all parts of a student’s identity, teaching students of color about their legacy of resilience and strength,” Jenkins said. “We will do this by forming a collaborative vision of student academic and non-academic success alongside the community.”
Money and location
Over the first three years, the State of South Carolina Charter School District will provide an estimated $3 million. The school is on track to receive an additional $1.3 million from four charities, $750,000 from Coastal Community Foundation, $100,000 from Walton Family Foundation, as well as finalist funding opportunities from New Schools Venture Fund and Charter School Growth Fund.
“These funds will help us realize our mission and allow students to learn in the local context of The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor,” Jenkins said. “We will leverage the corridor heritage to cultivate scholars’ minds (intellect), hearts (character), and hands (skills).”
The school’s proposed location is in an area known as Frogmore near the Parker’s convenience store and in the shadow of the historic Penn Center. Epstein Architecture has developed architectural concepts with Phase 1 Construction completed by May 2024, Phase 2 Construction completed by May 2026, and Phase 3 Construction completed by May 2027.
Community
“Community is at the heart of our work. I want to thank all the community members and partners that have helped to develop the curriculum, concepts, and benchmarks that will guide this school and its students,” Jenkins said.
Supporters and partners include arts-focused organizations, such as Responsible Artistry and the Gullah Kinfolk, Theater; culturally focused organizations, such as Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor and the University of South Carolina at Beaufort (USCB); natural resource-focused organizations, such as the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources ACE Basin NERR, Gullah Farmers Co-op, Earth People Farm, Marshview Farms, and Morning Glory Homestead; and civics-focused organizations such as Conservation Voters of South Carolina and several local delegate offices.
For more information about the school and enrollment, please visit the school’s website at seaislandheritageacademy.org, call 843-694-4984, or email info@heritageacademysc.org.
