Monarch Elementary is a beautiful facility housed on six acres in Simpsonville, South Carolina. Monarch is a neighborhood school that opened in August 2012 to ease overcrowding in four nearby schools. Except for students attending Monarch on special permission, our student population resides within a two mile radius.
Families zoned for Monarch were given the option of staying at their current school or coming to Monarch. Due to this option, Monarch was slated to open with fewer than 400 students. Monarch is built to house 1,000 students and opened at 69% capacity. With a focus on Health Sciences and a project-based learning approach the community has embraced the uniqueness of Monarch. Monarch gives students an early exposure to the range of healthcare careers and challenges through projects and clinical speakers. The demand for future student placement from the neighboring areas is immense.
Simpsonville was named by Family Circle magazine in 2010 as one of the “Ten Best Towns for Families.” In 2011, Simpsonville was named by Money magazine as one of the “25 Best Affordable Cities.” A charming downtown, a variety of festivals, convenient interstate highway access, and a central location within the Golden Strip of the Upstate attracts residents and businesses. Simpsonville city leaders are committed to promoting economic development. From the year 2000 to 2010, the City of Simpsonville's population grew by 27 percent to more than 18,000. The population of the entire Simpsonville area--which entails all of the 29680 and 29681 zip codes--is more than 70,000 people. Simpsonville has enjoyed a steady and sustained growth over several decades and expects that trend to continue.
The student capacity for Monarch and that of nearby schools is an indicator of the popularity of this area. Monarch’s number of classrooms accommodates the following: 10 kindergartens, 9 first grades, 9 second grades, 8 third grades, 7 fourth grades, and 6 fifth grades. Facilities also include an art room, music room, multi-purpose gym, challenge room, science lab, a computer lab, a separate kindergarten play area and a play area for first through fifth grade. In addition to a computer lab, Monarch has a technology lab which features three Promethean ActivInspire tables, a Promethean ActivBoard, thirty Dell Tablets, and unique software that enriches learning experiences for the students. There are two Special Education self-contained classrooms and three resource rooms. The media center has a reading/periodical room, an office, and a media production room.