Ashley Hall School

Early History

In the spring of 1909, Mary Vardrine McBee bought the Spring-Witte estate at 172 Rutledge Avenue to found an independent college preparatory school for girls. She named the school Ashley Hall. During her forty year tenure, the school grew from just 46 students in grades 10-12 to a much larger student body in Lower, Middle and Upper schools. Miss McBee set the tone for the school – holding it to the highest academic standards, establishing the Alumnae Association, instilling many of the traditions that still exist today, and acquiring facilities that would serve as the foundation for the institution for years to come. Her school included the McBee House (now so named) and surrounding grounds, an indoor swimming pool, the “Old Gym” (Burges auditorium), kitchen and dining room and the Headmistress House and faculty apartments across the street from Ashley Hall.

In 1948, in order for the school to continue to operate as a non-profit institution under a Board of Trustees, the Ashley Hall Foundation was established. The Foundation purchased Ashley Hall from Miss McBee in 1949, the year of her retirement.

Recent History

Caroline Pardue joined Ashley Hall in 1950 as the Academic Head of the Upper School and teacher of history. She was appointed Headmistress in 1954 and continued to serve in that capacity for the next 25 years, until 1978. Her many accomplishments include the establishment of Pardue, Lane and Jenkins Halls to officially house Lower, Middle and Upper school classrooms, the construction of Davies Auditorium, and the incorporation of a kindergarten for boys and girls. It was also during her leadership that the school shifted its student base, eliminating boarding opportunities to focus on providing local students with a superior education. Upon Miss Pardue’s retirement, Marian Bell Leland assumed the role of Headmistress during the years of 1979-1984. Mrs. Leland was instrumental in and created the Capital Campaign, “The Ashley Hall Fund,” which funded the construction of the school’s gymnasium.

Margaret C. MacDonald led Ashley Hall from 1985 – 2004. She is credited for elevating the school’s academic standards, expanding programs, and educating both her faculty and the community on the value of an education that addressed the specific learning needs of girls and young women. She established financial aid programs and additional scholarships, initiated the school’s first campus master plan, developed teaching excellence awards, the aquatics and admissions departments, and added to the physical property of the school. Mrs. MacDonald, along with the school’s Board of Trustees, also helped create the 2003-2008 Strategic Plan. This comprehensive blueprint outlines the future goals of the school as they relate to academics, student and faculty recruitment and faciltities enhancements.

In fall of 2004, the first of the strategic plan’s facilities enhancements was realized, with the ground-breaking of a new Lower School. This hallmark in Ashley Hall’s history coincides with two other school milestones; a 95th birthday celebration and the welcoming of Ashley Hall’s current Head of School, Jill Swisher Muti.

Mrs. Muti, former Assistant Head at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, North Carolina, has over 16 years of experience in teaching, administration and fine arts. She has several programmatic initiatives

the academic committee to define, plan and evaluate all programs as they relate to Ashley Hall’s mission.

In 1996, she founded the “Spoleto Study Abroad” program, a non-profit organization that provides arts and humanities studies for secondary students and faculty each year during Italy’s Spoleto festival. This exciting program is now available to Ashley Hall students.

Today, the Ashley Hall curriculum includes required and elective courses in English, mathematics, history, modern and classical languages, sciences and the arts. Honors courses and 18 Advanced Placement courses are available to qualified students. Many of the disciplines require the use of computers in projects, homework assignments, tests and laboratory experiments.

Students are also required to participate in community-service activities and seek involvement in some level of athletics. Competitive sports opportunities include basketball, cross country, sailing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Intramural sports include basketball, “Girls on the Run,” kickball, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, t-ball, tennis, and volleyball. Ashley Hall is proud to have one of the best volleyball teams in the state.

For students interested in participating in other extracurricular activities, Ashley Hall offers journalistic organizations, music, drama, honor council, student government, and more.

Well Known Alumnae

Chairman of Ingram Industries, Martha Rivers Ingram ‘53; Former First Lady Barbara Bush ‘43; A Wrinkle in Time author, Madeleine L’Engle ‘33; White House writer Catherine McEaddy ‘90; mezzo-soprano D’Anna Fortunato ‘63; Harvard Medical School Associate Professor of Medicine, Sue Ellen Levkoff ‘69; M.D., Yale Medical School and author, Lisa Sanders ‘73; author Josephine Humphreys ‘63; Chairman and CEO of Springs Industries, Crandall Close Bowles ‘65

I am actally an Ashley Hall Alumna and played the part of Josephine Humphreys in our second grade play “Famous Women Through The Ages.”

 Porter Gaud

Porter-Gaud School is an independent college preparatory school with historic ties to the Episcopal Church. With an approximate enrollment of 960 students in grades Kindergarten–12, Porter-Gaud is a coeducational day school located on the banks of the Ashley River in Charleston, South Carolina. Porter-Gaud represents over a century of experience in preparing students for college and guiding them through their formative years to maturity.

In 1964, three distinguished schools—Porter Military Academy, founded in 1867; the Gaud School for Boys, founded in 1908; and the Watt School, founded in 1931—merged to form Porter-Gaud.

The roots of the school go back to the Reverend Anthony Toomer Porter, an Episcopal priest, who formed the Holy Communion Church Institute in 1867 to educate children orphaned during the Civil War.  The school was later known as Porter Academy and eventually Porter Military Academy.

William Steen Gaud established the Gaud School in 1908.  In 1948, Berkeley Grimball purchased the school from Mr. Gaud, and over the course of 16 years increased the enrollment to nearly 150 as the Gaud School attained a position of eminence among Southeastern preparatory schools.

Mrs. Ann Carson Elliott, Berkeley Grimball’s mother, founded in 1931 the Watt School, a coeducational primary school, which served as a “feeder school” for the Gaud School.

William Steen Gaud

In 1964, the original Porter Military Academy campus in downtown Charleston was sold to the Medical University of South Carolina, and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (now CSX) donated the 70-acre site on Albemarle Point where Porter-Gaud now stands.

In July 1964, the three schools merged, dropping the military program, and the new entity, Porter-Gaud School, opened its doors to 435 male students in grades 1–12.

Porter-Gaud opened its new campus in September 1965 with an enrollment of 469 day students. In the following year it became one of the first schools in the South to adopt an open admissions policy. In 1972, the school became coeducational. Female students were admitted into the first three grades that year, and by the fall of 1976 the program was accelerated to include girls at all levels of the school.

The Gaud School

Mr. Gaud, born in Canada, had a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, and had been headmaster of Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. After marrying a Charleston girl, he founded the Gaud School in 1908 with 34 students. In 1912 he turned the school over to others in order to teach at Phillips Exeter and then to serve during World War I. He returned to Charleston in 1919 and again took over his school.

Last Graduating Class of 1964

The school was first located in a building behind his home at 29 Legare Street, but in 1920 it relocated to 77 Church Street. From 1928 until 1941 and again from 1957-1961, the school was located at 90-92 East Bay Street on the corner of Adger’s Wharf. The school had also been located for a time at 77 Church Street and at 79-81 East Bay Street.

Upon Mr. Gaud’s return to Charleston in 1919, his school essentially became a school to ready Charleston boys for successful entry into New England boarding schools. Its high academic standards meant that Mr. Gaud often had a waiting list of applicants. The number of his students ranged from ten to eighteen, and these were divided into two grade levels in his one schoolroom, one class studying while the other recited. After Mrs. Watt’s school began in 1931, it was customary for boys to attend her school through the third grade, and then fit in to Mr. Gaud’s school, which went through the eighth grade. Mr. Gaud would let his students take a break in the school day and go to the nearby playground, where one of the games was called “Gaud ball” – rather like baseball without a bat.

 Gaud Building at 90-92 East Bay Street School

In 1948 Mr. Gaud retired at age 82 and his equity in the school was purchased by Mr. Berkeley Grimball for $125.00. Mr. Grimball began to build his school, a grade at a time, until he had some 180 students. The building on East Bay Street became too small for the growing school. In 1961 Mr. Grimball bought the Rutledge mansion on Broad Street where the students had classes until 1964. Mr. Grimball continued the high academic standards of Mr. Gaud, at first teaching many of the subjects himself. As the school grew, he added fine teachers such as Mr. Maurice McLaughlin, who taught Latin and Spanish, and Admiral Florence, who taught math. Mr. Grimball was a particularly fine teacher of literature and history. The school lacked athletic facilities, but Mr. Grimball at first used the East Bay Street playground and later took boys out to practice on his tennis courts on James Island; soccer was also added to the activities.

In 1964, Gaud School, Watt School, and Porter Military Academy were merged to become Porter-Gaud School, at first using the Porter campus for a year before moving to Albemarle Point.

Watt School

Mrs. Watt was Mr. Grimball’s mother, so running a school came naturally for him. After her husband died, she began her school in 1931 in the depth of the Great Depression. Her first classes were held in the dining room of her Broad Street home, but she had a small classroom building constructed at the rear of her property. The reputation of her school grew among her neighbors and among those living south of Broad Street. Many of her graduates went on to the Gaud School, particularly after Mr. Grimball became headmaster there. Most of the children would walk to school and then walk home for the traditional 2:00 p.m. dinner. It was a homey and welcoming school and very “Charlestonian.”

In 1964, Gaud School, Watt School, and Porter Military Academy were merged to become Porter-Gaud School, at first using the Porter campus for a year before moving to Albemarle Point.