CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) \u2014 Two Charleston County School District schools opened their doors in new buildings this week as students returned from holiday break.<\/p>\n
Morningside Middle School and Ladson Elementary School both welcomed students Tuesday to their \u201chome away from home,\u201d marking the end of years-long construction and development projects.<\/p>\n
The new buildings feature updated technology, new furniture, new amenities and resources that teachers describe as creating renewed energy for the school communities.<\/p>\n
Ladson Elementary Principal Cristina Frazzano said the new building was necessary to address overcrowding issues that created vehicle traffic backups on Ladson Road, as well as the need for makeshift classrooms, where some students had physical education classes in hallways.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is their home away from home and we want to provide students with a space where they feel safe, where they can be innovative and creative and the building is designed just for that,\u201d Frazzano said.<\/p>\n
The previous building\u2019s limitations affected the school\u2019s daily operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur schedule was developed based on the constraints that we had for the space,\u201d Frazzano said.<\/p>\n
Ladson Elementary remained on its existing campus on Ladson Road but moved into a completely new building. The previous building now serves as the primary school. <\/p>\n
Kate Gleaton, a teacher at Ladson Elementary, said the improved environment should lead to better educational outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in a very small, little room with no window. So I love that I get natural light. I love that I have this space and the ability to let students kind of move more within the room\u2013just really ignite their creativity in a whole new way,\u201d Gleaton said.<\/p>\n
Morningside Middle School moved from its temporary location at the Garrett Academy of Technology to its new campus on Singley Lane. The building can accommodate 900 students as the district prepares for future growth in the Lowcountry.<\/p>\n
Principal Sharon Randall said students are adapting well to their new facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a little bit intimidating at first, but they are quickly growing into it and enjoying the space and acclimating to the rules and regulations in the space. So they\u2019re blossoming in more space,\u201d Randall said.<\/p>\n
The school currently has about 560 students, but Randall sees opportunity in the additional capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have about 560 students presently, but the more students we have in a school, the more programs we can offer. So, we\u2019re looking forward to recruitment, getting the community into our school to see what we have to offer. And I know just doing that, the school will sell itself,\u201d Randall said.<\/p>\n
The additional space allows for expanded extracurricular programs, including music, sports and other programs like Advancement Via Individual Determination. <\/p>\n
Ladson Elementary was constructed using a budget of $70,094,955 and was funded through the Phase V one-cent sales tax.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have delivered on our promise, and this is going to be something that\u2019s going to be years to come in the neighborhood,\u201d Jasmeen Shaw, the district\u2019s executive director of capital programs, said. <\/p>\n
Morningside Middle School was built through various funding sources.<\/p>\n
Shaw emphasized the district\u2019s commitment to providing quality facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur students are critical, our staff is critical. We want to make sure that we provide resources in the area,\u201d Shaw said.<\/p>\n
Both principals said they have observed students showing special energy as they adjust to their new learning environments.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 WCSC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) \u2014 Two Charleston County School District schools opened their doors in new buildings this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,25716,451,192285,192284,3,452,453],"class_list":{"0":"post-398040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-charleston-county","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-ladson-elementary-school","13":"tag-morningside-middle-school","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}