School briefs for September 29th-October 5th

Top photo: Beaufort Academy freshman Cal Harvey, son of Bert and Juliet Harvey, was named the recipient of the third annual Emerging Leader Scholarship. The ELS scholarship was designed by an anonymous donor to identify and support a rising ninth-grade student throughout their upper school tenure at BA. Eighth-graders from all over Beaufort County were invited to apply. Its unique focus is to cultivate the leadership skills of the recipients, with the intent that these students will both show academic prowess as well as participate in leadership roles at BA and in the community. From left are BA Headmaster Stephen Schools, Juliet Harvey, Cal Harvey and Bert Harvey.

Rosemary Wells, author and illustrator of the popular children’s series “Max & Ruby,” selected Cross Schools as the first stop in a tour to promote her latest book, “Hand in Hand.” The event featured a meet-and-greet and book signing, as well as a Young Artists Workshop for grades K-4, and a Young Writers Workshop for grades 5-8. Cross Schools is an independent Christian school in Bluffton serving children from 18 months through eighth grade. Wells is shown here with kindergartener Zoe Vermilyea, daughter of Kate and Jody Vermilyea.

The Bluffton Rotary awarded two scholarships for student involvement in the USCB Rotaract Club at its Sept. 14 meeting. Mahogany Hickman and Mariah Rogers were honored for their involvement as president and vice president of the Rotaract club at USCB. Rotaract is the college division of Rotary International. Both students were leaders in the development of the Rotaract Club at USCB, which is committed to community service.

Riverview Charter holds ribbon-cutting

Riverview Charter School celebrated its new middle school building and newly renovated cafeteria on Sept. 27 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the school at 81 Savannah Highway in Beaufort. The event was hosted by the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce. An open house for students and their families took place following the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Riverview Charter School opened on Aug. 17, 2009. It is a free public school open to all residents of Beaufort County, and it was the first charter school to open in Beaufort County. It is sponsored by the Beaufort County School District. There is no tuition fee and no pre-admission testing or interviewing required for prospective students. Riverview Charter School has expanded by one grade per year, and it now serves K-8 students. The maximum class size is 19 students. Applications for the following school year are accepted from Jan. 1-31 of the preceding school year, and available seats are filled through a public lottery.

For more information, visit www.beaufortchamber.org or call 843-525-8500.

Superintendent to hold town hall meetings

Parents and community members will have several opportunities to meet with Beaufort County School District Superintendent Jeff Moss. Moss holds a cycle of informal town hall meetings twice each year with parents and citizens in each of the district’s “clusters” of schools.

“With the beginning of a new school year as well as with encouraging student achievement results being released this fall, there’s a lot to celebrate and discuss,” Moss said. “The opportunity to connect with parents and community members is something I truly value.”

The town hall meetings for the fall semester will be held at 6 p.m. at each of the following schools:

• Thursday, Sept. 29, at Whale Branch Early College High School
• Thursday, Oct. 6, at Beaufort High School
• Monday, Oct. 10, at May River High School
• Monday, Oct. 24, at Battery Creek High School (to include Islands Academy)

The fall town hall meeting for the Bluffton cluster will be the Oct. 10 event at May River High; the spring town hall meeting for the cluster will be at Bluffton High.