Howe Hall Arts Infused Magnet School (AIMS) opened in 2002 as the first magnet school in Berkeley County. The school quickly established its arts philosophy and became a model for arts infusion. Countless educators have visited the school meeting with arts teachers and administrators in their efforts to begin arts schools or replicate the arts infusion philosophy at Howe Hall. AIMS serves 420 kindergarten through fifth grade students who are selected, not by audition, but by lottery from all over Berkeley County. If selected to attend the school, transportation to and from school, must be provided by the parents. Students participate weekly in classes for dance, drama, music, physical education and visual art. In addition, the fine arts and classroom teachers deliver arts infused lessons utilizing a team teaching approach. Furthermore, students in grades 3-5 are treated to a myriad of exploratory classes from which they select one which they attend once a week. These classes include: orchestral strings, steel drums, chorus, puppetry, tap dance, yoga, improvisational theatre, broadcast journalism, clay, photography and more. AIMS was awarded the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award for Arts in Education by Governor Nikki Haley and the South Carolina Arts Commission in 2015. In 2010 AIMS won the U.S. Department of Education’s National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award. In 2007 AIMS students performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. after receiving the State and National Kennedy Center Creative Ticket School of Excellence Award. To this day, AIMS consistently offers children unparalleled instruction that addresses multiple intelligences by creating lessons that merge arts and academic standards. The true essence of its success as defined by student learning is due to the innovation and creativity of its arts infused lessons and the focus on academic achievement for every student.