Where are these beautiful tulips?

I live downtown with my husband and children ages 7 and 5. On Sunday I showed a house that I have listed at 65 Gibbes St. to a couple with two children from Santa Barbara, CA. The neighborhood and house were extremely interesting to them. Of course they asked many questions about the house, etc. But a burning question was   where do families send their children to school? I told them there were many options for a public or a private school education.

Unfortunately, the majority of downtown public schools are “failling” per academic standards. Many downtown residents are unaware that there are public school options.The federal government is required to offer public school transfer options and supplementary instruction to children trapped in a school ranked as failing. To learn more about this please click here to visit the Charleston County School District Website.

Below I have short listed the Public schools that have a magnet program or are a charter school.

Buist Academy (Downtown) K-8 grade

Mitchell Elementary with a Montessori element (Downtown) K2-5th grade

Mt. Pleasant Academy (Mt. PLeasant) 1-8 grade

Rivers Math and Science Middle School (Downtown) 6-8 grade

Ashley River School of the Arts (West Ashley) K-5 grade

Saint Andrews Math and Science (West Ashley)  K-5

Academic Magnet High School (North Charleston) 9-12 grade

School of the Arts High School (North Chalreston) 9-12 grade

Private Schools
Ashley Hall School (Downtown) “Miss McBee opened the doors to Ashley Hall believing that our society needed educated women who were independent, ethically responsible, and prepared to meet the challenges of society with confidence. She choose the use of classical education to prepare young women for thier ever changing landscape. Much of what Miss McBee believed to be of value in 1901, still holds true today.”  

Addlestone Hebrew Academy (West Ashley) “Addlestone Hebrew Academy is a community day school that provides an exceptional education in a secular adnJudaic studies. Our students achieve standards of academic excellence in a dynamic enviornment that embodies that richness in Jewish life. Our school provides conditions in which children are motivated to learn. Our class sizes are small and our excellent teachers provide the individual attention which is critical to the development of children.”  www.addlestone.org

Blessed Sacrament School (West Ashley)”The mission of Blessed Sacrament School is to provide a high quality academoic program in a genuinely Catholic enviornement that affords students the opportunity to develop morally, spiritually, aesthitically, emotionally, and intellectually.”  www.scbss.org

Bishop England High School (Daniel Island) “Excellent school with strong sense of community and academic excellence.”  www.behs.com

Charleston Catholic School (Downtown)”Each child is challenged to discover his or her own academic excellence through creativity, inquiry, adn critical thinking. The opportunity to integrate imagination and discovery is offered in the Fine Arts programs. Physical education and a strong extracurricular athletic departmewnt help to contribut to the child’s total development”  sites.slicker.com/charlestoncatholic

Charleston Day School (Downtown) ” The mission of Charelston Day School is to foster scholarship, integrity, respect, and responsibility to our students.”  www.charlestondayschool.org

First Baptist School (Downtown) A K3-12 independent school, First Baptist is best known for three things; our nurturing Christian enviornment, our affordable rates, and our highly successful students.”  www.fbschool.org

Mason Prepatory School (Downtown) Mason Prepatory School is committed to the education of the whole child in preperation for secondary education, to the development of the child into a productive citizen, and to the cultivation of respect, integrity, and personal responsibility within a nurturing enviornement.” www.masonprep.org

Porter Gaud School  (West Ashley) “Porter-Gaud is an Episcopal, coeducational, independent college prepatory day school. We ackowledge the sovereignty of God, recognize the worth of the individual, adn seek to cultivate a school community that endows citizens witha foundation of moral and ethical charachter and intellect. Perter Gaud fosters a challenging academic enviornement that honors excellence in teaching and learning, respects differences, expects honesty and applauds achievement.”  www.portergaud.edu

The largest and most elaborate of Charleston’s antebellum religious buildings was dedicated in 1907. Today the long awaited steeple was installed. Glenn Keyes architect…..absolutely beautiful! Great job and congratulations to everyone involved.

Check out the cover and featured article in Southern Living for Charleston.

The Charleston Wine and Food Festival is this weekend and it is sure to be a good time. Come out to Marion Square all weekend and check out what’s going on. Saturday there will be Iron Chef style competitions between some very well known chefs from other cities and some from Charleston! It is sure to be a good time. This is a great event to help you experience Charleston!

The website for the festival is www.charlestonwineandfood.com

According to a press release by the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors, the Charleston area real estate market is showing very promising signs of improvement during the third quarter of 2009! I’m not one to count my chickens before they hatch, but the figures don’t lie. Inventory sits at it’s lowest level all year and December is the third consecutive month of increasing sales, 80% already over November, and a higher median price! Granted, some of this may be attributed to the tax credit posed to end November 30 that has now been extended to the end of April, but I have never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth either!

Great article about success of the American College of the Building Arts. Great job John Paul!

Click here for full article.

Charleston has been listed as the #2 “Next City” in the United States by Next Generation Consulting(NGC). The current rankings only have a handful of cities in the South, with only three cities in the Southeast making the top ten.  A “Next City” is categorized as a place “with the assests and amenties that attract and retain a young, educated work force”.  Charleston is categorized as a “Mighty Micro” which is a small but significant city that has most of the same attractions as a “Super City” but on a smaller scale.

To read the full article please click here.

What comes first, the job or the location? Until recently, most people did not consider their location to be a matter of choice. Usually, finding a job comes first and then determines the area in which you will live.  To the new generation of the gainfully employed, this is backwards. I can’t say I disagree. Today’s workers can dictate where new headquarters will be located and help attract new centers of business to a given city just by moving to these cities in increasing numbers. Charleston has been named number two on this list of “Next Cities,” indicating that young people want to live here for personal reasons rather than professional, so the jobs will follow this new pool of potential employees. See the list of criteria for these “next cities” and read the full article using the link below.

Where are the Next Cities?

Charleston has been named one of America’s Fifty Next Great Adventure Towns!  What a fun moniker!  These cities chosen are not just great places to live or relocate to now, but anticipated to be even more exciting in the future. Apparently, we have always been a pretty city, and we now have the outdoor action to match!  Between horseback riding on a plantation and surfing at Folly Beach there is plenty happening in Charleston, known largely in the past for our antebellum aesthetics. While reading this article, I’m thinking to myself, who wouldn’t want to live here?  Charleston really has it all.  In addition to the plethora of opportunities to experience the great outdoors, we also have an intriguing history lesson around every corner, first class shopping and dining, and outstanding weather!  I must congratulate National Geographic for recognizing excellence in our eclectic gem of a city, which somehow still remains a clandestine destination for those in the know.  But of course, being Southern by nature, we would be much obliged to share our little secret with anyone and everyone interested in hearing it.

To see the full list visit National Geographic 50 Next Greatest Adventure Towns