Frequently asked Questions

List of 10 frequently asked questions.

• Who is eligible to attend PSA?

  Any student in grades 6-12 that lives in any county within the state of South Carolina is eligible to attend PSA.

• How many students are accepted each year?

  Currently, the minimum number of spots for the sixth grade class at PSA is 72 and the maximum is 96. 

• What is the curriculum like at PSA?

  PSA offers an advanced, rigorous curriculum that is designed to meet the educational, social, and emotional needs of gifted and talented learners. You can find out more information about our curriculum here.

• What is your academic calendar like?

  Palmetto Scholars Academy follows the same academic calendar that the Charleston County School District uses. This means that when CCSD schools are on break, PSA is on break as well. The same policy applies for weather-related delays and cancellations.

• How extensive are your clubs and extracurricular activities?

  PSA offers a wide variety of clubs and extracurricular activities. These include but are not limited to:
  
  

  • Student Council
  • National Honor Society
  • Robotics
  • VEX Robotics
  • Mission Design
  • Odyssey of the Mind
  • Cyber Defense

  
  And many more…

• What athletic opportunities does PSA offer?

  At the JV &/or Varsity levels, for students in 7th grade and above, PSA offers:
  
  

  • Fall – Co-Ed Varsity Cross Country
  • Girls Tennis
  • Girls Volleyball
  • Winter – Boys & Girls Basketball
  • Spring – Co-Ed Track
  • Boys, Girls & Co-Ed Soccer

• What is class scheduling like?

  Schedules for students vary depending on the grade level of your student(s). For example, seniors at PSA will be part-time students at the College of Charleston taking approved DUAL credit courses. The classes taken at CofC are semester-based. Meanwhile, classes at PSA for seniors will be year-long. For the other grades, students will take a combination of semester and year-long courses. 

• How many students are Gifted?

  Nationally, it is estimated that 3 million, or 6 percent of K-12 students are academically gifted. In Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester 2 and Dorchester 4 School Districts, there are 4,063 state-identified gifted students in grades 6, 7 and 8.

• How is “Gifted” Defined?

  Gifted students are those who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.

• A Few Common Misconceptions about Gifted Students

  • Gifted students don’t need help; they’ll do fine on their own
  • That student can’t be gifted; she’s receiving poor grades
  • Gifted students excel equally in all academic subjects
  • Gifted students are happy, popular, and well adjusted in school
  • Gifted students make everyone else in the class smarter by providing a role model or a challenge
  • This child can’t be gifted; he has a disability
  • Our district has a gifted and talented program; we have AP courses
  • Acceleration placement options are socially harmful for gifted students
  • Gifted education programs are elitist