GEORGETOWN, SC (WBTW)- Tara Hall is opening a new arts and sciences elementary school for third and fourth graders in August.
The new education venue is located on Tara Hall’s 11-acre campus along the banks of Black Mingo Creek and will provide enhanced academic teaching to better prepare boys for the fifth and sixth grade.
The school grounds are surrounded by a river dock, playing fields and courts, a gymnasium, and more.
Plans for the academy began as Tara Hall’s Board of Directors made the decision to better utilize facility space to continue meeting their mission to continue evolving and growing.
Extended plans for the third and fourth grade school came in collaboration with The Georgetown School of Arts and Sciences, a school dedicated to fostering students from grades 5-12. The Georgetown School administrator, Dr. Gary Gates, wanted to expand but had no room.
The two school boards began collaboration and working together to design The Tara Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Tara Academy of Arts and Sciences is set to open as Tara Hall Home for Boys celebrates 50 years as a nonprofit organization that has provided a home and school to nearly 700 boys.
For nearly 50 years, Tara Hall has accepted young boys, ages six to 13, from all walks of life and surrounding communities who have been neglected, troubled, or abused.
The long-term residential school helps boys at a young age to get caught up to grade level, excel in education, and develop moral, social, and life skills.
Tara Hall’s Executive Director, Jim Dumm, has been apart of the organization since it first opened in 1970.
“We have discovered that it’s not because they don’t have the ability or capability to do the school work. But they have not had that encouragement.” Dumm said.
The new arts and sciences venue will replicate the other Tara Hall classrooms and provide students with teachers, materials and the technology they need to best succeed.
The school is set to open on August 22nd, the first day for all Georgetown County schools.
