Nine years! Not exactly turning on a dime, was it?
A decade ago, parents in the attendance zone surrounding Memminger Elementary in downtown Charleston asked themselves why a failing, nearly 100 percent black school existed in an affluent, white-majority zone. They wanted to improve the school's integration and its academics. Wise heads decided that an internationally-recognized academic program would lure white (and middle-class black) parents to take a chance on Memminger.
The Charleston County School District balked in 2008 when parents first proposed the IB program: it cost money that she-who-cannot-be-criticized, our great former superintendent, was unwilling to spend for accreditation and language teachers. Instead, Memminger got "IB-lite," which was about as satisfactory as "lite" beer. Under that administration, only prized Buist Academy deserved IB.
Fast forward after five years of "global studies":
"After a second push for IB in 2013, the school began the process to earn authorization. On April 21, 2017, IB officially authorized Memminger."
"Memminger has 326 students enrolled this year, with about half coming from the school's attendance zone and half coming from elsewhere in the county through the school's partial-magnet lottery admissions. The sleek modern campus, opened in 2013, still has room for about 100 more students."
Memminger should give Buist a run for its money. Implementing Core Knowledge would have been cheaper, but we'll take what we can get.
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