Schools in Bluffton
Written by Charlie Wetmore
e all know that the Bluffton area has grown tremendously in the last decade. We have seen many new homes and businesses pop up with promises of more to come. Initially, community leaders expected most of the growth in population to come in the pre-retirement and retired age groups. Has that been what’s happened? While we have seen quite a bit of growth in that area, a mid-decade census performed in the town of Bluffton showed that that was not the primary growth area. The largest growth areas were in 5-9 year old and in the corresponding parent’s age group (I guess the kids decided to bring their parents when they moved here). That has led to some interesting challenges in the area. Town and County leaders found that the number of parks and fields available and planned were not enough for the people who were moving here. The Beaufort County School District also found that their plans for schools in the Greater Bluffton area were inadequate.
Let’s talk about the schools in Bluffton. Did you know that, at one time, the only High School for Southern Beaufort County was in Bluffton? Yes, that was the case until the mid 1980’s when Hilton Head High School was completed and all of Bluffton’s High School students started attending there. Also, did you know that M C Riley School used to be located somewhere else in the town? It was on Goethe Road (where M C Riley fields are now – that explains why the name is used there). The fields stayed but the school moved to its current location on Burnt Church Road.
In 1994, when I first moved to Bluffton, the only public school in the greater Bluffton area was M C Riley Elementary (capacity of around 500). Also, May River Montessori School existed (it started as the Church of the Cross Montessori). That was it. Then Bluffton started to grow; both physically and in population. In 1999, major annexation began in Bluffton and by that time it was obvious that new schools would be needed. In fact, two new schools opened that year: Bluffton Elementary School (capacity of around 500) and H E McCracken Middle School (capacity of 750). Shortly after that, Okatie Elementary School opened (capacity of around 500).
In 2004, Bluffton High School opened with 800 students and an initial capacity for 1,000. Two years later, the High School was at capacity and an addition for 500 more students was opened. As of the writing of this article, the school is again at capacity and recently added four “learning cottages” (mobile classrooms) to its campus. Around the same time as the Bluffton High School expansion; Bluffton Elementary, H E McCracken Middle, Okatie Elementary and M C Riley Elementary all underwent expansions to increase capacity by 100 to 250 students each.
Last month, Red Cedar Elementary opened with a capacity of 800 students. Before this opening, all three of the elementary schools were seriously over capacity, each by hundreds of students. There is another Elementary School under construction in Pritchardville that is designed to relieve the remaining pressure with one more Elementary School slated for the Hampton Lake area of Bluffton Parkway.
Meanwhile, H E McCracken Middle School is at around 1,200 students (with a current capacity in the main building of 1,000 students). A new Middle School will open this school year in the Buck Island/Simmonsville area. This will relieve the overcrowding in the current Middle School. The Beaufort County School District has also recently purchased additional land in Bluffton for future Middle and High School campuses.
The number of private schools in the Greater Bluffton area has grown quite a bit too. From the Church of The Cross Montessori School in the 1980s to the following today: May River Montessori, Low Country Montessori, St. Gregory the Great School, Church of the Cross School. I’m sure there are probably one or two others that I’m missing as well.
For the most part, the capacity of the schools in Bluffton is now mostly caught up with the number of students. The one major exception at this time is the need for more room for our High School students. I am impressed with how quickly the Beaufort County School District has caught up most of the capacity with the need as well as with the ability of our local churches to come up with room as well.
We still have quite a way to go with parks and recreation facilities meeting the needs of our community members. I have discussed this in previous articles but one positive that I would like to bring up is that the new gym will be opening soon in the Buckwalter Regional Park.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at:
cwetmore@Townofbluffton.com
Charlie Wetmore
Council Member, Town of Bluffton
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