Beech Hill Elementary School

1001 Beech Hill Road

School District

Dorchester 02
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:15
Type

public

School Map for Dorchester 02 School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 13, 2025

We love so much about beech hill! We moved from another dd2 elementary school that did not compare. The communication from BHES is top notch! The SRO is always present especially at car rider when someone doesn’t have a tag etc. I feel my kids are very safe here and we haven’t had issues with bullying like our prior elementary school.
Submitted by parent on May 14, 2024

My oldest went here and absolutely loved it. (He is now at Rollings). My youngest is currently about to finish 4th grade and loves it as well. Mrs. Harris is an excellent leader and you can tell she loves the kids, the teachers, and her job. Every single teacher that both of my boys have had were amazing! We feel very blessed that we found this school and trusted them with our boys! We are only sad that we only have one more year here. I wouldn’t change a thing! Great job BHES!!!
Submitted by parent on May 25, 2022

Beech hill has sent my child home with regular sunburns after being asked to apply sunscreen I was told by the teacher it was an impossible task. My child was send home with spiked clothes and the teacher had no idea somehow. I will be homeschooling to avoid this school. They have not responded or set up a meeting to resolve issues as they don’t see a problem with how they monitor children.
Submitted by parent on February 20, 2020

My experience with this school has been nothing but amazing. My child went to a couple of other schools since kindergarten but BHES is by far the best.
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2019

We have been at Beech Hill for 6 years. My kids have grown academically by leaps and bounds! Perhaps more importantly, they feel loved, supported and appreciated for who they are. Beech Hill is a family.
Submitted by parent on July 11, 2018

Not favorably. If you are looking for a school that acknowledges the accomplishments quarterly, this us not the school. They also do not make many changes to their events. They rely on old school achievements instead of changing. The academic scores are high, but there is a lot of pressure to make it happen. If you're a parent who doesn't have the time to continually check the folders & gas a student who needs reminding. It can be very tiring. Communication between instructors & parents vary depending on the teacher. My child never felt like there was someone in the staff that they could confide in. My child pushed through obstacles & remained successful academically, but is over the moon to no longer have to attend this facility.
Submitted by parent on July 15, 2017

Our 2 years at this school have been hell! I did my research before moving from Florida and this school was suppose to be the BEST! These grades are fudged based on the GATE kids and that's what this school cares about because that's one of the ways this school keeps funded, while my high achieving A/B child gets the teachers that are young and don't really care. I'm a very hand's on parent that's had many conferences with the teachers and the principal Mrs. Harris, nothing changed and nothing was fixed... a bunch of lip service! Private school here we come for next year. So sad cause I'm such an advocate for public schools but in South Carolina I'm finding out private is the way you've got to go.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2017

If your child is a high performer as our oldest, is, you will LOVE it here! If he or she is behind as our youngest, well, best of luck to you. We have asked for an evaluation since January and kept getting no response. We finally received a response in early March that it would happen, and now with only 8 days left in the school year we have yet to receive one. The "underperfomers" are not given the KIND and CARING sort of treatment that the shining stars do. When I asked for a conference with the principal via email, first it was unanswered. After a phone call, the email was answered, but she wanted me to email her with concerns rather than come in and talk. This was for my youngest. Perhaps I should have stated it was for my oldest in order to get some attention. I am nearly in tears at the moment as I am trying to word a response. My first instinct is to bring them both home from this (as other reviewers have said) hall of smoke and mirrors.
Submitted by other on February 20, 2017

This is our second year at Beech hill, we movedhere from wv and placed 3 kids in Beech hill. Two were very behind because of wv school system. I have been amazed watching them catch up and exceed expectations. The teachers truly care about your kids and the front office values safety above anything else. We love the Beech!!
Submitted by other on January 24, 2017

I had my reservations on this school considering it's so large. I have two children attending the school. One performs above grade level on everything and the other has a LD (dyslexia and apraxia) and needs more resources and extra help. My son received speech therapy from the school and it has profoundly changed his life. Mrs. Day (SLP) has transformed him from bearly understood into a clear articulate young man. They both receive and outstanging education. The teachers and staff are very caring and supportive. The principal is absolutely fantastic. Keep up the great work! Thank you all for providing my children with a top notch quality education.
Submitted by parent on September 25, 2016

This is our first year at Beech Hill Elementary. My grandson has disabilities and has a solid IEP and BIP. Although shadowed he went from being an A student in Ohio to failing most subjects. We have seen double standards, disregard for his educational needs. A daily behavioral log is sent daily, all positive feed back. Although, I started to receive nightly emails from his teacher that where horrifying. First it took them two notes from me about no homework to the third week into school before it being addressed. They have put a target on his back.To add, the principal called me and I knew I was on speaker phone. Never have I had a professional ever do this without announcing it was actually a conference call. I had to ask who was in the room.Later that day my grandson and I was accosted and threatened by a parent with school officials watching. Disgraceful! I firmly uphold the woman's post from Febuary 2015. There is double standards and smoke and glass mirrors everywhere.The principle tried to pick, choose, and play Symantecs with me rather than the right thing.After 2months, I know what my grandsons future is there. I also am very proactive with his educational needs. We believed this was a great fresh start but quickly found out, some teachers prefer pure cookie cutter classrooms.My point of contact is the schools intervention specialist. When I asked him to call after receiving these painful, nit picking emails, I forwarded them to him and asked he call. Instead the classroom teacher felt it was her authority to respond and make things clear, she rules the roost. Shame on him, specialist, for not intervening.I am also from a northern state. I find the slow respond, the lack of regards for a child with diabilities to be their last concern. If it were a concern they would learn the child, triggers, and work through. Yelling as my grandson reports is their point of intervention. With a very well written IEP and BIP, it has yet to be successful or used to his betterment.Don't send your child there if they have a disability, in our case multiple, because they have no idea how to work with the children.Nor are they willing to listen. You only get Symantecs.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2015

If you value your involvement in your children's education, consider all your school placement options before enrolling your children at Beech Hill Elementary School. Our first year was decent because the teacher was superb, this year has been a train wreck of finger pointing, lack of communication, disastorus meeting after meeting to attempt to find common ground, blatant dishonesty from the staff and lack of skills from the staff to coordinate any semblance of control in their environment. That school may have top ratings, but something very important is missing there and if more parents were truly more involved in their children's education, the ratings would plummet. I'm an involved parent and my goal has always been to give my children the education they deserve. Each family is different, and each encounter is different, but I know that I would not recommend Beech Hill Elementary School to any family that is searching for a public school to place their children in.
Submitted by parent on February 02, 2015

I have to disagree with the last review. The teachers send notes home on a calendar informing you of your child's behavior. Teacher always responds to emails and I can set up a parent teacher conference when ever we have any questions. This is our first year at the school and are very happy with how much our child is learning. I give Beech Hill two thumbs up.
Submitted by parent on October 28, 2014

We were very excited when our daughter started at Beech Hill, as the previous reviews states, its beautiful, the principle is charming, it receives accolades, blah, blah, blah. Then we got six months into the school year and boy did my opinion change. There is a severe issue with Bullying at this school, and it is the administrations opinion to handle it "in house" instead of informing parents and holding consequences for the children. We have had so many issues, and when I speak to the faculty and admin. all I get are smoke screens and mirrors. I don't understand how children getting A's and B's in a subject get extra help to maintain their grades but the kids that struggle don't qualify for help, really? Think long and hard before going to this school. Beach chairs and surf boards in the halls, do not a great school make. The PTA is a clique ran by Administration, their is no communication, and the entire school hides behind a policy book filled with "grey area" policy. Looking forward to moving in two months, it's been real, but not real nice.
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2013

This is an excellent school with an excellent principal, Ms. Harris. Ms. Harris has a passion for children and it shows. The one single problem this school has is overcrowding. Hopefully when the new schools are built in the district they can re-draw the lines and alleviate the really large class sizes. The technology at this school seems competitive and my sister who is an out of state teacher reviewed the methods this school uses as posted on the DD2 website and says they are right on track with national teaching methods and trends. The teachers are dedicated, there is good parental involvement and the facilities are well maintained. If it weren't for the really full class sizes, it'd be just about perfect. So if you have a child that needs a LOT of extra attention from the teacher, you might think twice about this school due to class size issues but otherwise, I highly recommend it!
Submitted by parent on May 25, 2012

My Children and now my grandchildren go to this school, and I must say it is a honor to be able to say that they attend there! The leadership has always been top notch, and Mrs. Harris is the most amazing woman! She leads her staff and Children to not only achieve but to "Shine" = Safe, Honest, Intelligent, Nurturing and Empowering... any open school function has standing room only, parents are very involved... And we were awarded with the prestigious Palmetto's finest award! I just cannot say enough good things :)
Submitted by parent on February 11, 2012

All three of my children attended Beech Hill Elementary School while we lived in Summerville from 2002-2008. We did our homework and researched schools before buying a house across the street in Legend Oaks. I cannot say enough good things about this school and its staff. My children had an amazing experience here. Not only did they receive great educational instruction, they also learned values that will serve them well in life. My son had the privilege of being in an all-boy classroom in 2nd grade and it was a fantastic year for him. Beech Hill has been recognized nationwide as a model for the option of same-sex education. The principals during our time there were great leaders. The current principal is an amazing woman - compassionate, smart, and classy through and through. I have never seen so much parental involvement in a school. I loved having the opportunity to help in the classroom and at school events. The teachers are top-notch. Our time at Beech Hill was wonderful and not having all three kids complete 5th grade there was one of the hardest things about moving away. I would not hesitate to recommend Beech Hill.