Growth: Certainly a great problem to have! DIIS was blessed to call the Melrose Beach Club home for the 2023-24 school year. It was a light-filled classroom with an ocean view. As an outcome of an exceptional academic school year, we were faced with the opportunity of doubling our numbers, and outgrowing our space.
Melrose Beach Club utilized as a school during the 2023-24 school year.
Recognizing the lack of available infrastructure on Daufuskie Island, many island entities came to the table to help craft possible building solutions. With the priorities of, first, identifying a location that allowed DIIS space to grow, and second, a physical space condusive to learning, the Island House in Melrose was deemed the best suited location. Melrose’s Island House was last opened in 2017, when it served as offices for the then owner of Melrose. While the Island House was not the most obvious choice, given the state of the building, it certainly was the space that best fit the needs of DIIS and the building that met the timeline. It’s not often those two requirements are met in the same building.
A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Whitestone
Daufuskie Island Fire District
First Union African Baptist Church
Daufuskie Island Historical Foundation
The many individuals that helped negotiate, secure permits, liason between county and state entities, and work on the Island House.
DIIS’s new space provides the physical structure to compliment and take full advantage of DIIS’s academic programming. Since moving in November 1st, students have benefited from the new, more foramlized learning space.
New learning spaces (clockwise from the left): DIIS’s library, music classroom, entry hall, science classroom, and math classroom.
ANOTHER VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Kelly & Fred Waite for funding improvement needs specific to creating school spaces that support pedagogy.
Haig Point Foundation for kickstarting the outfitting of our new home. With their generosity, DIIS has purchased desks, bookshelves, and seating, as well as other essentials.
Student attitudes and behaviors reflect the more formal school environment, which in turn, contributes to a more focused, dynamic learning atmosphere. DIIS is excited about the many new ways to enrich students and the community through use of a more permanent space.
