Annual Oyster Roast
Friday, January 26, 2024 | 7:00pm–9:00pm
Ashley Hall Sports Court
(Please enter event via the Smith Street Gate.)
This adult-only event is open to the entire Charleston community, so bring your friends. We look forward to seeing you there!
Tickets are $60 when purchased online by Wednesday, January 24.
Tickets are $45 for young alumnae, classes 2009-2019, when purchased online by Wednesday, January 24.
Tickets are $65 when purchased the evening of the event.
A cherished, longstanding Ashley Hall tradition, The Christmas Play assumed a digital format for its 2020 production in response to pandemic safety concerns. Against the backdrop of new technology, creative staging, and the need for the cast to socially distance, one thing remained clear: the love for this shared generational experience runs deep.
“This year we reimagined The Christmas Play in order to adhere to public health and safety protocols, and the spirit of this Ashley Hall tradition came to life in an entirely new way. Filmed outdoors on campus, the play allowed us to take full advantage of our cherished Senior Lawn as well as the Bear Cave, which served as the perfect backdrop for the Holy Tableaux.” —Head of School Jill Muti
Ask any alumna to name her favorite Ashley Hall memories, and The Christmas Play makes the list more often than not. Now in its 97th year, the annual performance is nearly as old as the School itself and draws together generations of graduates who relish memories of assuming roles of angels, shepherds, and jesters, reciting time-worn lines, and singing a repertoire that embodies the holiday season.
“The fact that you can reconnect so well with your Ashley Hall experience through watching the play makes it so special,” said Assistant Head of School and Upper School Director Anne Weston ’73, who treasures many fond memories of watching and performing in the play. “This year we worked hard to preserve the tradition of The Christmas Play in the face of challenging conditions.”
Historically, the logistics of The Christmas Play have adapted through the years to allow for location changes and staging demands, and the digital version represents the latest of these transformations. While the medium of delivery may change, it is reassuring to know the essence of this beloved tradition remains very much the same.
Another special Ashley Hall tradition is the sending of alumnae “telegrams.” Each year, alumnae cast members of The Christmas Play share warm wishes with members of the current cast. Filled with fun memories and loving support, these “telegrams” offer a glimpse into the special bond our alumnae have to their School and each other. Happy reading!
On Friday, Ashley Hall recognized its 2018 graduates during “The Spiral Walk,” a campus procession through each division that celebrates not only the wonderful young women the graduates have become but also the bright future that awaits them. A new tradition established last year, “The Spiral Walk” began at the Shell House, where each senior received a small conch shell with her graduation year written inside as a symbol of both the spiral curriculum and the conch shells on the Shell House. “I was walking across senior lawn last spring and looked to my right and saw first and second grade girls walking to the Ingram Arts Center,” said Upper School faculty member Chris Hughes, who created “The Spiral Walk.” “I then looked to my left and saw seniors hanging out on senior lawn—where else can you see who you were and who you will become in one glance? I started thinking about how the girls move through the buildings on campus by starting with the Early Education Center (EEC) and ending in the Upper School.”
After Head of School Jill Muti read aloud the poem “The Chambered Nautilus” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., those seniors who started in the EEC initiated the walk and stopped at each division to pick up their classmates where they had commenced their Ashley Hall journey. Girls in each division sang a special song to honor the seniors, and as the entire senior class entered Davies Auditorium, the rest of the Upper School stood and greeted them with the song “Oh Ashley Hall.” “I think this is a meaningful walk because it gives all the younger girls the opportunity to not only pay homage to the seniors but also to get a glimpse into who they will become as Ashley Hall girls,” said Chris. “For the seniors, it is a trip down memory lane and a visual reminder to reflect on their time spent here and the wonderful teachers they had along the way. It is a circle of endings and beginnings.”
In honor of Miss McBee’s 138th birthday, we wanted to share this incredible excerpt found in the 1949 annual titled: “History of Ashley Hall and Miss McBee” written by her niece, Corina “Nena” McBee ’49.
History of Ashley Hall and Miss McBee
“During the year of 1909, an ambitious young woman came to Charleston with an idea. The young woman was Miss Mary Vardrine McBee, and the idea was to start a school for young ladies. Miss McBee realized that the South lacked a school which gave the necessary college requirements to Southern girls, and so, on a day in late September, in the year 1909, Ashley Hall began. The idea was not new to Miss McBee. It had come to her several years earlier when she entered Smith College. A young girl from Fairmont, Tennessee, Miss McBee had been out of school for four years when she made application to take the college entrance examinations. For three long days she wrote away and passed all except two exams. In order to be admitted she had to make up one of these two. Immediately she sat down and took the algebra examination. And so it was that on a cold rainy Fall day in 1902, a joyful sub-Freshman, who had just passed her algebra entrance examination, picked up her heavy long skirts and hurried behind Dr. Brady, the Latin Professor, across the campus toward the administration building. She fixed her eyes on Dr. Brady’s old-fashion high boots and saw water fly out in every direction with each step he took. It was in this atmosphere created by the sight of the stern old gentleman wading through the water that the idea, the dream of Ashley Hall was born. Miss McBee was then, still, a very young lady but despite this she had the determination and strength of purpose to last her through four years of college and many hard years after that until her dream was completed.
As we all know this dream culminated on a day in September of 1909 when forty-five students came to the old Witte house which has since become Ashley Hall and began the first day of school. The first enrolled day student was Josephine Pinckney and the first enrolled boarder was Pauline Sanders. These girls, this class of forty-five students, became the first members of a school which has grown and improved to become one of the outstanding preparatory schools in the country. The first year there were no graduates. But in 1911 three girls: Lucille Lebby, Katherine Paul and Ethel Thrower, were the first graduates, and in 1912 and industrious young student, Mary Howden, took the college entrance examinations and gained for Ashley Hall the prominence it needed to become a certified school. And so three years after its beginning Ashley Hall was well on its way to success.
Of the school itself much can be said. The classes which at first could be held in the main building soon required new buildings that extended for a block. The students, originally forty-five girls, have increased to two hundred and forty young ladies. The teachers have been an impressive group of intelligent, thoughtful and if not famous, certainly well equipped ladies and gentlemen.
Such foresight, perseverance and good natured kindness have gone into developing the cultural tradition of the school–a tradition which through the years has been increased and tempered with the utmost care, and which we regard as our backbone for the work of later life.”
Written by Corina “Nena” Louise McBee ’49, niece of Miss Mary Vardrine McBee (founder of Ashley Hall)
The Class of 2017 has officially taken their place as the newest members of the Ashley Hall Alumnae sisterhood.
With a class totaling 54, nearly half of our seniors accepted merit scholarships for academics. Many more students earned scholarships but chose to attend other institutions offering a better fit, substantial needs-based aid or instate tuition.
Cumulatively, the class garnered more than $2.6 million in merit scholarships to colleges and universities around the country.
Our graduates are attending 29 different colleges and universities.
Class members were accepted into 5 Honors Programs: College of Charleston, Clemson University, The University of Georgia, University of North Carolina at Wilmington Honors and University of South Carolina.
Congratulations to the Class of 2017. We could not be more proud of these young women and all they have accomplished at Ashley Hall. Look out world, here they come. Click on the button below to see the full list of this year’s college acceptances!
The stage is literally being set for Ashley Hall’s beautiful commencement ceremony scheduled for this Sunday, May 28. Steeped in beauty and tradition, the Class of 2017 will take their place as the newest members of the Ashley Hall sisterhood. Click on the button below to view the list of this year’s college acceptances.
Last Friday marked the beginning of a new Ashley Hall tradition called “The Senior Spiral Walk.” The Class of 2017 met Head of School, Jill Muti, at the Shell House where she bestowed upon them a small delicate conch shell to forever remind them of their educational journey at Ashley Hall. Each girl then went to the division where she first began at the school. Mrs. Muti and those seniors who began in EEC initiated the walk, stopping through each division to gather their classmates along the way. Each division sang a special song to honor the girls as they passed through. Then, as the entire class entered Davies Auditorium, Upper School underclassmen greeted them with the song Oh Ashley Hall. It was a beautiful way to recognize the journey of our soon-to-be graduates and to honor them at their final assembly.
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.
