Ashley Hall will resume a normal schedule, Friday, October 12. Our thoughts go out to family and friends in Florida impacted by Hurricane Michael. We look forward to seeing everyone on campus tomorrow.

Due to Hurricane Michael, Ashley Hall will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, October 11, with plans to re-open on Friday, October 12. All extra-curricular activities, including Extended Day, and sporting events are canceled as well. For the latest news, please follow our Facebook and Instagram pages, or visit www.ashleyhall.org or the Learning Commons. Stay safe everyone!

(pictured above, Sara Stephenson, Ashley Hall Director of Strategic Enrollment Management)

Dear families and friends,

As a newcomer to the Lowcountry, I’ve just experienced my first hurricane evacuation. A friend here in Charleston described it as “being chased by a turtle”—I thought this was a wonderful analogy. My family and I left for our old home in Cleveland, where we still own a house. While the week was filled with visits with friends and a welcome dose of cool, early fall temperatures, we were focused on the question, “When can we go home?”. In just six short weeks (and even after four years of living in a close-knit community in Cleveland), Charleston has become the only place that we want to be. Ashley Hall has formed the basis of this welcome truth: I have quickly put down roots here and already feel that this is my school home. The unique welcome and authentic sense of belonging that Ashley Hall has offered me, and to all of you, are what bind us to this community with pride and enthusiasm. Pure and simple: Ashley Hall is a place like no other.

In my role as Director of Strategic Enrollment Management, I am fortunate to welcome new students and help existing families recommit to Ashley Hall each year. This is work about which I feel deeply passionate and perpetually excited. I look forward to hearing your stories as I get to know you and your daughters and young sons personally.

As the admission season begins, and we start to welcome families who are looking for their new school home, we understand that you, our current parents, are, by far, our most genuine and important cheerleaders. Your stories are the ones that inspire other families to consider Ashley Hall for their children. Your voices are compelling, resonant, and authentic. Please consider sharing your Ashley Hall memories and experiences with a friend, neighbor, or colleague. We want to meet them and to learn more about their children. We have a special welcome waiting for them in the admission office—please encourage them to contact us so that we may have the opportunity to show them the Ashley Hall difference.

Although the summer is barely behind us and this year’s back-to-school routine is only just completed, I am already thinking ahead to the 2019–2020 school year. As we get closer to re-enrollment season, I will be in touch again to share some important information about securing your spot for next year quickly and easily. In the meantime I wish you a wonderful fall and look forward to meeting as many of you as possible in the weeks and months ahead.

Warmly,

Sara Stephenson
Director of Strategic Enrollment Management
[email protected] | (843) 965-8514  

Due to Hurricane Florence, Ashley Hall will be closed from Tuesday, September 11 until further notice. This decision follows Governor McMaster’s executive order that calls for the closure of all government and school facilities in Charleston County. All extra-curricular activities, including the Panther Picnic, Extended Day, and sporting events are cancelled during this time. Ashley Hall will closely monitor the situation on the Charleston peninsula and will communicate updates as soon as they become available. For the latest news, please follow our Facebook and Instagram pages, or visit the Learning Commons. Our Ashley Hall family is in our thoughts, and we look forward to having our students back soon. Stay safe everyone!

Coming soon to Davies Auditorium! The Ashley Hall Theater Department presents Beehive: The 60’s Musical, chronicling the changing role of women as defined by a decade of remarkable transition. From bubble-gum sweet girl groups to gritty female solo artists, this musical retrospective features the sounds of the 1960s from women’s perspectives. Buy your tickets and support our rising stars!

Tickets: 
$10 for Adults
$8 for Students

Friday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 21 at 3:00 p.m.

On the last day of Horizons at Ashley Hall, a little rain could not dampen the spirits of 30 exuberant first and second graders from Memminger and Mitchell Elementary Schools as they celebrated six weeks of achievements and well-earned confidence boosts. Having experienced a transformative summer of reading, STEAM classes, music, and swimming, each girl will begin her school year better prepared academically and will return to Ashley Hall’s campus this fall and spring for special Saturday Horizons sessions. For the many faculty, staff, and volunteers who made Horizons at Ashley Hall possible, those special sessions cannot come soon enough. “I had to hug each girl and personally tell her goodbye,” said Shannon Laribo, Class of 2011, who is an Assistant Director of Admission at Ashley Hall and who served as a reading specialist during Horizons. “I can’t wait to see them again and hear how things are going with their school year. ”

As the first South Carolina school and second all-girls’ school in the nation to offer the award-winning, tuition-free Horizons program, Ashley Hall prioritizes academic innovations and meaningful community connections such as Horizons. In addition to faculty and staff working as teachers, the School’s student and alumnae volunteers served as Horizons Assistant Teachers (HATS), a crucial element to establishing a welcoming campus environment for the girls and building meaningful friendships. With a 5:1 student-to-faculty ratio, the resulting program was a playful curriculum augmented by field trips, healthy lunches, and an overall emphasis on family involvement, with parents and students agreeing to return each summer through eighth grade. “Multi-year mentoring and an ongoing commitment by the parents and students are hallmarks of the Horizons program and provide a foundation for its proven success,” said fifth grade science and math teacher Kiki Sweigart, who serves as Horizons at Ashley Hall’s program director and lead teacher.

With the summer nearly over and the start of the school year just a few weeks away, Ashley Hall’s inaugural Horizons students took a few moments to savor everything they had accomplished and to look forward to more happy times on campus with their new friends. “I liked music class and singing best,” said Khloe Conyers, age 6. “I liked my teachers and friends and working together even better.”