Ashley Hall Giving Day Garners Record-Breaking Response
Thanks to the help of amazing parents, faculty & staff, alumnae, grandparents, and friends, Ashley Hall received 319 gifts during this year’s Giving Day. This secured an additional $60,000 in challenge gifts bringing our Giving Day total to $142,179. Our School is blown away by the generosity of this community. Thank you!
Parent Challenge Winner: PQV to Lower School families who came together to show their Panther pride. Thanks to all divisions for such a spirited day!
We’re looking forward to having our students back on campus for a great 2023-24 school year. Please find important back-to-school event information below.
August 14 and 15 | Welcome Days
Welcome Days, formerly Orientation, will be offered by each division and provide families with the information necessary to begin the school year successfully. Each event will also feature designated time for families to mingle in order to get to know each other. Here is the schedule:
Lower School Welcome Day | Monday, August 14 by appointment time. Parents should contact their division assistant to schedule their appointment.
Early School Welcome Day | Tuesday, August 15 by appointment time. Parents should contact their division assistant to schedule their appointment.
Welcome Day for Grades 5-8 | Tuesday, August 15 from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m.
Welcome Day for Grades 9-12 | Tuesday, August 15 from 2 to 3:15 p.m.
August 24 to September 14 | An Evening at Ashley Hall
Formerly Back-to-School Night, these adult-only events will include classroom visits in which we invite families to experience our curriculum. Here is the schedule by division:
An Evening in the Early School | Wednesday, September 13 from 6 to 7 p.m.
An Evening in the Lower School | Thursday, August 24 from 6 to 7 p.m.
An Evening in the Intermediate Program | Monday, September 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
An Evening with the Nautilus Program | Thursday, September 14 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
An Evening in the Upper School | Thursday, September 14 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Each December, Charleston’s Post and Courier newspaper recognizes excellence in fall high school sports by acknowledging student athletes and coaches of note. We’re thrilled to share that Ashley Hall’s Vivian Miller ’22 headlines the list as All Low Country Girls Tennis as Player of the Year. Vivian will go on to play tennis at Brown University next fall. Additionally, in her first year at the helm of Panther Varsity Tennis, Coach Charlotte Hartsock has been recognized as Coach of the Year. Way to go ladies!
The complete list of the Post and Courier‘s All Low Country Athletic Recognitions can be found below. PQV to all of our student athletes who participated in a fall sport this year!
CROSS COUNTRY First Team: Kate Coker, Ailish Ward Honorable Mention: Atalie Evans Godly
GOLF First Team: Raegan Propes Honorable Mention: Rhett Maybank, Chloe Ross
SWIMMING Honorable Mention: Maddy Ethington-Carl
Mattie Hood
Bells Martin
Michelle Lam
TENNIS Player of the Year: Vivian Miller Honorable Mention: Jane Goldstein
Mattie Laney
Alice Otis
Lily Sloan
Emorie Stockton
Coach of the Year: Charlotte Hartsock
VOLLEYBALL Honorable Mention: Josie Cotuna
Riley Street
Charlotte Strickland
(Photo courtesy of the Post and Courier.)
by Carrie Singh, Director of Student Affairs
“Looking back at an old appointment calendar, it was three years ago, almost to the day, that Mrs. Muti and I met with an architect to share a vision for a new student center on campus. With the opening of the Lane Student Life Center (SLC), we are thrilled and grateful to so many to see this vision become a reality for our community. Ashley Hall has long been committed to health and wellness as a core component of the student experience; our wellness programming is founded on the belief that a student’s social-emotional learning is crucial to her ability to advance in her academics, athletics, arts, and career aspirations and to lead a fulfilling life, developing into the person she is meant to be. The design of the SLC was to provide a central place for information, community building, support, and sustenance. This repurposed ‘addition’ to campus includes communal areas, study rooms, multipurpose classrooms, a wellness studio, a dedicated student leadership work space, a small café, and the offices of devoted student support personnel (Dean of Students, Director of College Counseling, Director of Student Affairs, the Upper School Administrative and College Counseling Assistant, and the Upper School Counselor), all intentionally designed to support and positively impact the growth and development of adolescents.
By creating a space that emulates a college campus student union, the SLC will offer opportunities for student independence, self-regulation, and agency, providing instances whereby our girls develop and hone decision-making and time management skills. Our café will utilize a point of sale system linked to the student ID cards of ninth through twelfth graders, helping prepare them for the ‘one card’ system used in many colleges. We visualize time for reflection, relaxation, and mindfulness with yoga, meditation, or exercise in a multipurpose wellness studio and chances to commune with friends and classmates in the banquette style seating or the standing desk computer charging stations in the SLC’s commons area. Ultimately, our hope is that this space fosters a sense of belonging for our students, allows them to feel both cared for and independent, and gives them the tools they need to flourish and become the best version of themselves. We believe every student can discover ways to find the professional or peer support she needs for self-knowledge and self-care. Through this kind of agency, she also learns how to be accountable for her decisions and how to practice the critical skills she needs to cultivate inner strength and resilience.
The vision for this renovated space was conceived before the arrival of a global pandemic. Despite our thoughtful design process, we did not anticipate what protocols a pandemic would require. We are making necessary adjustments to ensure the building can be used both purposefully and safely, while still honoring its intended users: our students! Perhaps now, even more than ever before, the health and wellness of our students are of utmost importance, and the literal and figurative space to allow them to practice the skills needed in today’s world in the safe and supportive environment of the SLC will be a most welcome and compelling addition to our campus.”
Celebrate Earth Day by purchasing a set of sea turtle stationary created by Ashley Hall kindergarten students. All of the proceeds raised during this fundraiser support the Sea Turtle Care Center at the South Carolina Aquarium. Each set is $15 and will be delivered to students during the week of May 10. In the form below, please indicate each kindergarten class you would like to purchase prints from (Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Dolan, or both!) and you can also make a monetary donation in support of the fundraiser. All online purchases must be submitted by April 30.
Having one’s own space to create is crucial in the pursuit of art, and for Visual Arts faculty member Nancy Langston, envisioning and constructing such spaces are powerful reminders of art’s ability to dismantle stereotypes. A natural builder with her spatial skills and aptitude for visualization, Langston often draws on construction techniques in her art and in turn builds to channel her creative impulses. “I’ve renovated several houses in Charleston, and the process is similar to creating sculptures,” she notes. “In many ways, it is easier because the outcome is a known and measured entity.” This summer, Langston drew on that same ability to create a unique and inviting campus space for her students: Their very own “She Shed.”
The idea began several years ago when Langston transformed her backyard with an outdoor open-air painting/sculpture studio. “It started as a 12′ x 12’4 post and metal-roofed structure and evolved into a 14′ x 30′ outdoor studio oasis complete with ceiling fans, lighting, a sitting area, speakers, a mural on the floor, bricked paths, a fire pit, and gardens,” she explained. “Working with the sights and sounds of nature is uplifting, enlivening, and inspiring to creativity. Knowing how it makes me feel to create in an open-air space, I have long wanted to build a space like this for the girls in my classes, and with the pandemic and the need for social distancing and fresh, uncontaminated air, I saw an opportunity.”
With the School’s approval of her building plans and sketches, Langston immediately went to work and completed the project over the course of two weekends. “I would be remiss if I were not to give a big shout out to my husband, David, who cheerfully assists in my projects,” she enthused. “He is a technology account manager by profession, not a builder, but he too loves the challenges, from digging post holes to wiring the lighting, such projects present.”
Stocked with pottery wheels, tables, and chairs, the “She Shed” could not have arrived at a better time. “Being in the elements sparks my curiosity and makes me appreciate nature and breathing so much more,” said Dorothy Fort ’22. Many students expressed a similar appreciation for the chance to create out-of-doors. “Being within four walls sucks the living life out of me,” exclaimed Bryce Turberville ’21. “I’m more motivated when I’m outside.” For Langston, offering her students the gift of their own space for creativity is both practical and inspirational as they build their own futures. “They were a bit shocked when I told them that I built it,” she smiled. “The construction workers on campus had the same reaction. I look forward to a time when it is commonplace for folks to accept that a woman can have construction skills.”
Ashley Hall is a K-12 independent school for girls, with a co-ed preschool, committed to a talented and diverse student population. We consider for admission students of any race, color, religion, and national or ethnic origin.