Best Public Elementary Schools in Mt. Pleasant (Charleston, Mount Pleasant: middle-class, home search)

[jlphillips]

My husband and I are considering a move from Chicago to Charleston. We'll be focusing our home search in the Mt. Pleasant area and prioritizing the best public schools. We have two young children, so we're trying to differentiate between the 5 or so public elementary schools in that area.

Does anyone have an honest and objective opinions here?

Also concerned as to whether these highly rated schools are compared to other SC schools which generally speaking sometimes rank lower, or on a national average? I've read that SC's standards are higher in some cases which I realize makes an impact.

I've done some research on greatschools.org and the Charleston County School District report cards. Other suggested resources? Just having a hard time pinpointing which schools are the very best.

Appreciate your help.

[moneill]

In general the schools in the Mount Pleasant area are excellent. I think that the elementary school that gets highest marks is Charles Pickney but really any of them would be great. Middle Schools -- Cario gets the highest ranking BUT again any of the middle schools would be fine. Laing is in a much older building but is a science/magnet school. The teachers, electives are amazing (marine sciences elective -- the kids took a scuba diving lesson -- so much fun). They all feed into Wando High School which is ranked 10th in the state. Considering most of the other schools ranked that high in the state/area are magnet schools, that is not a bad ranking. Wando High has been selected as a model school by the national Project Lead the Way for two programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Its Pathways to Engineering and Biomedical Sciences programs landed the school the honor of being one of only 16 high schools selected from among 4,200 in the nation.

I have two boys in college, both at Georgia Tech. They went through school in Georgia (for the most part)-- ranked not much higher than SC. They can compete with kids from all over the world. If you pick the right area, the schools will be more than adequate and in the Charleston area, that would be the Mount Pleasant Schools, or the Dorchester 2 school district.

Here's a site with more info. South Carolina State Elementary Schools - SC School Rankings

[ObserverNY]

Hi jlphillips,

I don't live there yet, but from an ideological and academic perspective, I would avoid the Buist Academy for Advanced Studies

International Baccalaureate

Since you are coming from Chicago, I'm sure you have read of Rahm Immanuel's recent push to expand IB in Chicago. IB is nothing but social engineering by UNESCO. For more info, please visit my website:

Truth About International Baccalaureate

Here's a recent article out of Chicago: http://www.wbez.org/eight-forty-eigh...-schools-98519

[DJShymansky]

Please take the time to come in and tour the schools yourself or speak with administration in the coming months before Summer. You really cannot go wrong in Mt. Pleasant when it comes to the public school offerings, but you are certainly going to get rave reviews of Pinkney and Cario and others. Because of that I wouldn't discount any of the schools in Mt. P., until you tour them for yourself and make sure they match up with what you want your children to experience.

[southbel]

I think most of the Mt Pleasant schools have been National Blue Ribbon winners at some point or another. My daughter was at Jennie Moore when it won it and I think Moultrie won recently. Either way, the Mt Pleasant schools are definitely the best rated in the Charleston area.

Once you get to that point, I have been extremely happy with the high school, Wando. Just to give you an idea...we recently met with her guidance counselor to talk about the colleges where she would have a good shot of acceptance. Her list includes Dartmouth, Duke, Pomona, etc. So, personally, I think Wando and the Mt Pleasant school system has served her well.

ETA: My daughter did the Math, Sciences, and Engineering Program at Wando. Has been excellent thus far!

[IsNull]

We've been very happy with Pickney. Our kids came from a private school and were right on pace when going public. Reading, math, and writing have really grown a lot this year. We're happy, but this is our first to go through so our expectations may be adjusted by the time the second hits it.

Good Luck!