Dunes Properties is getting involved in the efforts to save Sullivan’s Island Elementary, one of the best schools in the state. Many of our agents and their clients have children who attend or have attended the school, and Dunes’ very own Betty Poore is an alumni of SIES.  Dunes has financially contributed to the school in the past and our letters will be among those submitted to Superintendent Dr. McGinley, school district officials and the Charleston County School Board in February.

The school’s future is uncertain due to new seismic codes which require the school to be rebuilt.  SIES parents and volunteers are making their way through the area residents and businesses of Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, and Mt. Pleasant to document widespread support for the rebuilding of SIES. 

SIES is one of the top rated schools in the state and is continually rated “excellent” and every year since its inception in 1998, it has received the Gold Palmetto Award.  The support for the school is echoed in the devotion of a strong PTA and the Friends of Sullivan’s Island School (FOSIS) Foundation who have provided many volunteers and generated funds to supplement district funding resulting in playground equipment, smart boards in classrooms, computer and foreign language education and a full-time nurse. 

The school has recently applied to become a partial magnet school using its oceanfront location to develop a focus on marine and environmental science.  The possible change could result in SIES sharing its curriculum with other district and area schools.   The new school would be larger and consist of about 500 students.

Thank you to the Island Eye News for much of the information in this post.