Registration will open on January 26, 2026 at 9:00 AM. Classes fill up fast, so please be prepared to register as early as possible.

Yes! If your child has been borrowing a school-owned instrument to participate in band or strings at their school, then their school should provide that same instrument for them to participate in SMAART Band or SMAART Strings. If you encounter any issues with securing an instrument for SMAART, please contact Nick Nafpliotis for assistance (nicholas_nafpliot@charleston.k12.sc.us).

The program typically runs during the last weeks in June. Summer SMAART 2026 will run June 8 - 26, Monday through Friday. Hours will be set later this semester, but typically go from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

The 2026 Summer SMAART program is currently slated to be available for rising 4th through 8th Grade (current 3rd through 7th Grade) students. 

The price for the 2026 Summer SMAART program is $300. This includes all three weeks of instruction plus breakfast and lunch each day the program is in session. Bus transportation can be provided for an additional $100 fee. Fees can be paid online with a link that will be included on the registration form. 

Scholarships are available upon request for families of students on free/reduced lunch or who attend a Title I school.

No -- minor area classes are scheduled by the SMAART Program administrative team. 

The SMAART registration form will have a section to select whether or not your child will require district-provided transportation to attend the program. If they do, you will be asked to select the CCSD school location that is most convenient for you to have your child picked up in the morning and dropped off in the afternoon. We will work with transportation to plan a bus route that will likely include your selected location (or one that is very close by) so that your child can have the transportation needed to attend SMAART.

Once registration closes, we will begin working with CCSD's transportation department to determine bus routes and develop a transportation schedule. We will be in touch with you with those details once everything is worked out. 

If your child is going to miss more than 1-2 days of SMAART, we ask that you allow the opportunity for other students to sign up for the program. SMAART is very intensive -- students who miss more than one or two days will have a difficult time catching up and may hinder the collaborative work that takes place with other students in their major area classes.

Summer SMAART is only for students who have been identified as Gifted and Talented in the Arts (GTR). Students need to have gone through the GTR identification process and be identified as Gifted and Talented in the Arts in order to be eligible to attend SMAART. 

For more information on the GTR Nomination/Identification process, please click here.

You will be notified 2-3 weeks after submitting your registration about which class your child has been accepted into.

This year, students will attend the program Monday - Friday for three weeks. 

In the morning, students will attend their major area class. This is the class that you will be selecting for them on the registration form (and where they will be doing the most intensive projects). In the afernoon,  students in most SMAART classes will attend a minor area class. These classes are scheduled by the SMAART program and will rotate each week. 

PLEASE NOTE: Students who participate in the SMAART Band, SMAART Strings, or the SMAART Musical stay with those ensembles throughout the day and do not take any minor area classes. 

When registering for SMAART, students should select their top three choices for a major area class. The VPA office will notify parents of the class that their child will be placed in (based on availability) after registration closes.

PLEASE NOTE: Minor area classes are created by the SMAART program leaders and are designed to give students other experiences outside their selected choices. Students rotate into a different minor area class each week. Students participating in SMAART Band, SMAART Strings, and the SMAART Musical will remain with their ensembles for the entire day during both weeks of the program.

If you still have questions or require assistance, please contact email us at:

SummerSMAART@charleston.k12.sc.us