<strong>From staff reports</strong>

The Beaufort County School District is now accepting school choice applications for the 2021-22 academic year, the seventh year of the district’s expanded choice initiative.

School choice applications are open on the district’s website and must be submitted online by midnight Wednesday, March, 31. Parents who don’t have Internet access may request application assistance at any district school.

Curriculum options approved by the Board of Education include such instructional choices as Montessori, advanced math and science (AMES), International Baccalaureate, arts infused, language immersion, Cambridge Academy, Classical Studies, early college, and leadership programs.

To learn about all of the district’s school choice offerings please see the BCSD School Choice Headquarters website page (http://beaufortschools.net/cms/one.aspx?pageId=225399) where a complete school choice catalog can be viewed.

Choice schools serve children who live in their attendance zones in addition to students from outside the zone who apply to attend. Beaufort County students who attend choice programs do not pay extra tuition, although families are responsible for their students’ transportation if they live outside of school attendance zones.

If the number of choice applications at a school would cause the school to exceed its overall enrollment capacity, or if approved applications would push an individual choice program beyond its capacity, students will be placed on a waiting list.

Five schools potentially have no availability for choice because they are at or above capacity. Those schools are H.E. McCracken Middle School, Hilton Head Island High School, Hilton Head Island Middle School, May River High School and Pritchardville Elementary School.

All district schools maintain a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics focus, as well as a core curriculum that includes the arts, world languages, and technology.

For more information about any of the school choice programs listed in the 2021-22 catalog, please contact the school associated with the program(s) directly for more information.