Why Sterling School Charles Townes Center
Sterling School offers a uniquely dynamic learning community where two distinct programs - the Sterling School Choice Program and the Charles Townes Center Highly Gifted Program - come together around one shared purpose: ensuring every child is known, challenged, and equipped to reach their fullest potential. Serving students from 3K through eighth grade, Sterling combines a strong commitment to the Whole Child with exceptional academic opportunities, meaningful relationships, and a culture of belonging. Our students benefit from differentiated and engaging instruction, rich opportunities in the arts and STEM, advanced coursework, leadership and extracurricular experiences, and a faculty deeply committed to meeting students where they are while helping them grow. This combination of academic excellence, innovation, diversity, and community creates an environment where students are not simply prepared to succeed in school - they develop the knowledge, character, confidence, and skills to thrive wherever their future leads.
RESOURCE LINKS
We look forward to helping your family learn more about Sterling School! To schedule a tour of the Sterling Choice Program, please contact Dana Glenn, School Counselor for Primary Grades, at dglenn@greenville.k12.sc.us.
Families interested in the Charles Townes Center may contact Deborah Foulkes, CTC Program Coordinator, at dfoulkes@greenville.k12.sc.us. Once students meet the admissions criteria, we welcome families to schedule a tour to explore the learning opportunities available at CTC.
- National PTA School of Excellence: 2027-2025, 2022-2020
- U.S. News & World Report: Best Middle (#1) and Elementary (#4)* in South Carolina: 2026
- EXCELLENT School Report Card Rating in Elementary & Middle (5 Consecutive Years): 2026-2022
- Highest Performing School in Greenville County Schools: 2025
- South Carolina PTA Outstanding Local Unit of the Year: 2024
- Finalist Dick & Tunky Riley Award for SIC Excellence: 2024
- National Blue Ribbon School: 2023
- William “Bill” T. Wylie Valued Lives Award for School Excellence in Diversity, 2021
- Sylvia Palmer Sustainable Educator School Award: 2021
- South Carolina ASCD Whole Child Award School, 2019
Sterling School is Greenville County Schools’ only complete school of choice—a distinction that is a tremendous source of pride for our community. Every family at Sterling has intentionally chosen to be part of our school, with Charles Townes Center students invited to enroll based on specific admissions criteria. With that choice comes a responsibility to offer a distinctive educational experience that extends beyond what students might receive at their home-based schools. We honor that commitment by providing innovative, challenging, and personalized learning experiences designed to help every student discover and develop their fullest potential.
“In 2021, we moved from Nashville to Greenville after our oldest son was accepted into the Charles Townes Center at Sterling School. We quickly found the academic challenge he needed and a community where our family belonged. When our younger son later struggled to transition into kindergarten, Sterling’s staff surrounded him, and us, with remarkable care.”
- 3rd and 8th Parent
“As an autistic child who is mostly nonverbal, my son’s smallest steps can be enormous accomplishments, and his Sterling teachers have celebrated each one alongside us. Since beginning 3K, he has grown tremendously in communication, independence, and confidence. His teachers have taken the time to understand how he communicates, what he needs, and how to help him succeed.”
- 4K Parent