In 2008, Sherman Financial Group CEO, Ben Navarro, along with other Charleston community members, founded Meeting Street Academy (MSA) in Charleston, SC.

1. Sherman Financial Group CEO
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In 2008, Sherman Financial Group CEO, Ben Navarro, along with other Charleston
community members, founded Meeting Street Academy (MSA) in Charleston, SC.
MSA-Charleston was founded upon the belief that all children deserve an excellent
education regardless of their geographic or socioeconomic circumstances and that all
children have the ability to excel in the classroom. Where access to quality public
education and affordable private alternatives is severely limited, MSA-Charleston is
providing children with transformational educational opportunities.
MSA-Charleston is the flagship school for Meeting Street Schools (MSS), a network of
schools, which serves under-resourced children and their families from Pre-K-5th grade.
MSS became a network in 2012, when Meeting Street Academy Spartanburg (MSAS)
opened its doors. MSAS was made possible thanks to the contributions of a generous
private donor who was inspired by the success of MSA-Charleston. The MSS network
expanded in 2014 when Meeting Street Elementary @ Brentwood (MSE@B) opened to
students and families in North Charleston.
Twofifth grade cohorts have already graduated from MSA-Charleston. MSAS and
MSE@B will begin teaching fourth graders in the fall of 2017 and eventually, fifth grade
in 2018.
MSA-Charleston is an independent school. The network’s other schools, MSE@B and
MSAS, partner with local school districts to serve students in previously existing
attendance zones. Even though MSA-Charleston operates as a private school and MSAS
& MSE@B are considered public-private partnerships, all three schools utilize the same
MSS Model, demonstrating that it is indeed possible to close the opportunity gap that
has occurred in these communities for decades.
MSS is partnering with policymakers, education advocates, local communities and
investors to apply its’ model to new independent and charter schools as well as
reimaging the model used by existing public schools.
The unfortunate truth is that educational inequity is commonplace in South
Carolina. More than half of South Carolina’s students come from low-income
families. By fourth grade only 20 percent of these students are proficient in reading and
math according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. By the time
students reach high school, the only option available in many communities is a so-called
“dropout factory” or an institution with a graduation rate of less than 60 percent. In fact,
South Carolina has the third highest concentration of drop-out factories in the nation
and the highest in the Southeast.

2. While many South Carolina schools employ dedicated teachers and serve hardworking
families who want the best for their children, the current operational model is not
designed to meet the needs of under-resourced communities, despite significant per-
pupil expenditures. In contrast, the MSS model delivers an education on par with the
most elite private schools in the country at a cost comparable to South Carolina’s
statewide per pupil average. Within this budget, MSS is able not only to provide an
excellent education but also to address the unique needs of an underserved population
by providing significant benefits vis-à-vis public school students.