Albemarle Elementary School situated at the corner of Sycamore Drive and Magnolia Road opened in April of 1944 to accommodate 260 students who previously attended St. Andrew’s Parish School. Up to that point all the children in St Andrew’s Parish attended school either downtown or at S. Andrew’s Parish High School on Wappoo Road. As the Parish grew, grades were added to this school to accommodate the growth in the Parish.
When the elementary population grew to the point that a separate school was deemed necessary Albemarle Elementary School was built and became the first elementary school in the St. Andrew’s Parish School System.
V. M. Lomas was appointed the principal of the new elementary school. Lomas had previously taught mathematics at St. Andrew’s Parish High School. The article that ran in the Charleston Evening Post that year detailed the number of classrooms (12), the members of the faculty (10), and other features of the school – auditorium, auxiliary rooms, and modern equipment.
Originally the school was attended by the white youth from the area, by 1959 the following neighborhoods were allowed to enroll students at the school: St. Andrew’s Homes, Ashley Forest, Carolina Terrace, Magnolia, East Oak Forest, Maryville, Ashleyville, Charlestown Estates, Jackson Heights, Hillside, Old Towne Acres, Heathwood, Northbridge Terrace, Lenevar, and a few areas that were defined only by road boundaries.
Between the opening in 1944 until the recommendation for its closing in 1977, the school not only educated the youth from these neighborhoods; but also served as the polling place for St. Andrew’s 1 and 2. Civic Clubs held meetings in the auditorium like the August 1959 informational meeting on the potential for incorporation of St. Andrew’s Parish. The Charleston County Youth Symphony and String Orchestra held auditions in the auditorium. The PTA held meetings and fundraising Fall/Halloween Carnivals. By 1961, special education was added to the curriculum and in 1972 a kindergarten was added.
Not everything that happened at the school was peaceful though, there were two fires at the school in 1962 and again in 1964, one of the ceilings collapsed in a classroom, and in November of 1980 a practice teacher was robbed at gunpoint on school grounds at “high noon” in front of six of her students.
Today the building sits shuttered at the corner of Magnolia and Sycamore. Plans are that it will soon be an “accelerator” for local businesses with the potential for live events to be held in the old school auditorium. Read more about it at westof.net/centering-on-avondale.
Donna Jacobs is the author of “Byrnes Downs” and “West Ashley” and is continuing her research on the transition of St. Andrew’s Parish from an agrarian community to the suburbs of today. She loves to listen to stories; contact her at westashleybook@gmail.com.
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