Chimney Sweep in James Island, SC

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The first day of school is just around the corner for Charleston County School District and the opening of a brand new school.

After years of waiting, the Johns Island community will be getting its new school, Johns Island Elementary School, just in time for the new school year.

“It’s been a long time coming, and the other schools were amazing, but to create something new with all of the growth on the island and to build it from the ground up is really exciting,” Johns Island Second Grade Teacher Robyn Markovic said.

Markovic has been in education for over 30 years, working in the Charleston County School District for six years. With her also living on Johns Island, she said the energy is unmatched, and Principal Judith Condon agrees.

“We have a lot of families coming from charter schools, from private schools that are really wanting to invest in their local community, and that’s really exciting. Again, that’s something we’ve always wanted on Johns Island, is the investment in our own public schools, and this is the time, and it’s happening,” Condon said.

The school will be following the STEAM model, focusing on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics for students.

Condon is coming from her role as Angel Oak Elementary Principal, where she served for eight years. She said the majority of the teachers are coming from within the district as well.

“Because these are people that already work within these systems. We can spend more time talking about what we’re going to do, as the superintendent has stated, take it to that extra degree and do something this year that pushes our kids to that next level to excel in academics and beyond,” Condon said.

Markovic said in order to see their kids succeed, she looks to connect with them, especially because of the brand new building, as it welcomes 700 students from second to fifth grade.

“Because as an adult, it’s been overwhelming. It’s such a big building and so many amazing areas and things to see, so we want to make sure that they feel comfortable and safe and secure and obviously want to be here each and every day,” Markovic said.

Throughout the tour, Condon pointed out specific design choices influenced by the island and Gullah Geechee culture, like a painted quilt and basket-weaving patterns on walls.

As there were prior traffic concerns on River Road and around the island, Condon said they have intentionally planned out their carpool and driveways systems, but asks community members to remain patient. She said they have several safety measures for the new campus as well, and that includes traffic around the parking lot.

Their mascot comes from students and the community coming together, over the last year, coming up with different ideas of what represents the island. They came to the decision of the Johns Island River Otters.

While school starts on Tuesday district-wide, there will be a teacher meet and greet this Friday for Johns Island Elementary School parents and students.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Safety improvements are coming to two James Island intersections.

Charleston County leaders are working in partnership with the City of Charleston and the Town of James Island to begin construction on two intersections along Fort Johnson Road.

Leaders are offering a contract of more than $11 million to Banks Construction Company for the project. The dollars stem from the 2016 Transportation Sales Tax.

The construction will combine improvement efforts for the intersections of Secessionville Road and Camp Road along Fort Johnson Road.

The idea is to improve driver safety at the two intersection points. Charleston County leaders recorded more than 40 crash incidents that occurred at the intersections over the last five years.

Charleston County District Nine Councilmember Jenny Costa Honeycutt says the busy drive times, along with intersection alignment issues at the Secessionville Road intersection, can be difficult for drivers.

“It is a difficult intersection, and it also gets very busy, so turning through that left-hand movement for any direction of traffic is difficult, and of course, the intersection at Fort Johnson and Camp has been very dangerous over the years. That will be a compact roundabout, which will slow traffic and make it a lot safer.”

Nearly $4 million will go towards adding traffic signals on mast arms and a dedicated left turn lane off of Fort Johnson Road onto Secessionville Road. A right-turn lane will also be added for drivers turning from Secessionville Road onto Fort Johnson Road.

Just under $4.5 million of the funds will go towards an urban compact roundabout on the Camp Road intersection.

Charleston County Construction Manager John Martin says the decisions behind the safety measures are meant to lower impacts to surrounding residents.

“We picked a smaller one so that we could minimize the impacts to Live Oaks and the needing of right-a-way for the property owners there,” Martin says. “We picked the traffic signals at Secessionville primarily because a roundabout there would have taken a lot of property from the property owners there.”

Charleston County Finance Committee members will give preliminary approval for the plan on Aug. 21. Council members will give the project final approval on Aug. 26.

Leaders say the next step will go through a 40 to 60-day process for preconstruction duties. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2025.

JAMES ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - One James Island teacher wants to collect supplies to help her students keep more detailed notes for lab work.

Amanda Tucker teaches Honors Biology and Science at James Island Charter School.

“It’s so funny because I hate talking in public, but I can stand in front of a classroom full of kids all day long,” Tucker says.

The teaching veteran of nine years says she is grateful she discovered her passion. She says she was in her 30s when she went back to school to become a teacher.

“I actually started volunteering at my oldest son’s elementary school... fell in love with it.” Tucker says.

But her class doesn’t just focus here on planet Earth; her students work on a much larger scale.

“They’re actually competing against students all across the country for designing things on how to grow things using the things that are already in space,” Tucker says.

Tucker’s students experiment with plant growth, and for their creations, they are taken up, up and away.

“All this stuff is actually being taken to the moon,” Tucker says.

They use lunar soil for the experiment, something not so common here on Earth.

“Lunar soil is very fine powdery substance, almost like ash, but it’s very dense,” Tucker says.

Grants provided Tucker and her class with this soil and some other materials to succeed, but she says it’s also important for her students to keep all of their lab equipment and notes in line. That’s why she is looking for more organizational supplies.

“What we need here in the classroom is things for them to take data study, like the notebooks and the pencils and like a printer in the classroom, the kids can actually use to print off like their charts and their graphs,” Tucker says.

Tucker says the “Build the Moon” and “Plant the Moon” projects are some of her favorites, and she hopes to continue them for years to come.

“My kids are always excited to plant the moon because they get the chance for you to go outside, we get to play in the dirt,” Tucker says.

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JOHNS ISLAND — The Barrier Islands Little League and a religious nonprofit have teamed up to donate baseball equipment to around 75 youth players in the Dominican Republic for the second year in a row.

With the help of the Little League program, nonprofit Sowers of the Kingdom — a religious foundation dedicated to outreach in the Dominican Republic — delivered 22 large duffel bags filled with over two dozen baseball bats, 50 pairs of cleats, 20 pairs of new pants and more to kids in the town Las Terrenas who otherwise wouldn't have access to the athletic gear.

It's the second year that Johns Island resident Erika Gray has spearheaded the effort to give children in the D-R baseball equipment.

After visiting Las Terrenas in 2023 as part of a week-long mission trip, Gray said she and her children realized the boys in town didn't have athletic gear — yet they still played baseball every afternoon.

"They play with a stick and a ball," Gray’s 11-year-old daughter Jordan said.

After getting back to Johns Island, she thought about the Barrier Islands Little League — it happened to be the first year she signed her kids up to play. Gray said she realized how the league had so much equipment and how young people outgrow their athleticwear after one season, making it perfect for donation.

Gray proposed the idea to the Little League’s board, which quickly supported the plan.

Craig Orenstein, president of the league, said he put out boxes at the baseball fields for people to drop off donations. With hundreds of youths signed up for baseball, Orenstein said it didn't take long for the boxes to overflow with donations.

He added that he and other volunteers started fixing any broken equipment, sewing up any rips in uniforms players outgrew.

Orenstein said the donation effort has encouraged parents to stop throwing away clothing and gear their kids may have outgrown or broken.

"If you just take some time, you can fix it and make it right," he said.

After collecting donations year-round and taking items from the lost and found that were never picked up, Gray and several volunteers packed the equipment into bags and brought it to Las Terrenas for the first time in June 2024. The children were thrilled to get the equipment, she said.

This year, the donations continued. Gray said she hopes for the Little League and nonprofit foundation to continue making annual donations.

Luis Comas, one of the pastors in Las Terrenas, told The Post and Courier the players were "eagerly trying on their gloves, helmets and cleats, and practicing swings with their bats" when they received the donations in June. He added watching the kids play baseball with the proper equipment was an absolute delight.

Gray and her children were invited to play baseball after sharing the donations. While Gray was limited in her Spanish and the townspeople didn’t know English, she said it didn’t matter.

"Baseball is just one of those things where you can form that bond, just out of love of the game and love for each other," Gray said.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCBD) – A brand new elementary school is set to open its doors next week on Johns Island but not everyone is celebrating. While many families are excited about the opening of Johns Island Elementary, others are raising concerns about the infrastructure surrounding the campus, especially when it comes to traffic and sidewalk access.

“The roundabout is nice, but the roundabout doesn’t solve River Road, and our worry is the kids. How do they get here?” Joel Ogle, Johns Island Resident.

Starting Monday, August 12, Charleston County School District will begin monitoring traffic patterns around Moonbeam Drive and Claybrook Street two main roads in and out of the new school zone. The goal is to identify problem areas and find solutions for expected congestion before it becomes a long-term issue.

City leaders say they’re aware of the concerns and are working to help.

“I understand those neighborhoods… a lot of them bought their homes not knowing there would eventually be a school there,” said Charleston City Councilman Jim McBride.

“I brought up my concerns with City Council months ago especially about the need for traffic calming measures in those neighborhoods.”

Concerns from residents began early shortly after construction plans for the school were announced. A roundabout near the campus was completed earlier this year to improve traffic flow, but some neighbors say it’s not enough.

“The worrisome we have as residents that live behind the school but also residents that drive on River Road and Brownswood it’s a very dangerous road,” Ogle said.

“The school buses we’re worried could go into ditches. They put a school here, but they didn’t really think about how people get here.”

Despite the concerns, school leaders say student safety remains the top priority.

“A lot of thought has been put into the design of how students will come to school and leave school,” said Judith Condon, principal of Johns Island Elementary.

“I’ll be putting out videos for parents so there’s no confusion about using the car loop, walking on sidewalks, and crossing streets safely.”

More than 700 students are expected to attend Johns Island Elementary when it opens on Tuesday, August 13.

Councilmember McBride says he plans to host a community town hall later this month to hear more feedback and share updated traffic data with Johns Island residents.