Charleston Development Academy Public Charter School (CDA) helps all students develop the World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate through an educational approach that encourages the four Cs - critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. We understand the importance of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics for successful 21st-century learners. CDA continually incorporates new research, resources, and methods for engaging students and fostering interest in these areas.

Interdisciplinary lessons and classes expose students to real-world applications for science, art, and math. Building sculptures, designing garments, dissecting animals, and coding gives students a peek into active fields of study and work.

Using a master instructional model, classes employ project-based learning, asking students to work individually and collaboratively to problem-solve real-world scenarios. Lessons encourage students to think flexibly and creatively to answer questions and craft experiments. Students exercise the engineering and scientific process, from developing prototypes to presenting findings. CDA works to create authentic learning experiences for students while developing the teamwork, creativity, communication, and critical-thinking skills vital to their success as 21st-century learners.

At CDA, we strive to expose our scholars to the knowledge, attributes, and skills to collaborate to be ahead of their counterparts as they matriculate to high school. Our advanced study program exposes our scholars to several high school courses at the beginning of middle school. At the end of our scholars' final year, they completed two or more high school credit courses.

To ensure all students are reading on grade level, CDA offered a plethora of instructional support and interventions during the school day and extended day program. We employed several web-based programs to pinpoint learning gaps and met each scholar at their instructional level to achieve literacy success strategically. We remain “An Intellect Construction Enterprise; Developing Minds, Building Character, Engineering Futures’ where excellence is a standard expectation and where standards are expected to be excellent. 

Dr. Shawn Johnson, School Director

Ezetta McCray, SIC President