Dutch Fork High School

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Dutch Fork High School is a school in the Lexington & Richland County School District Five system, located in Irmo, South Carolina. It has about 2,200 students and is growing at a rate of as much as 5% a year. Originally built to contain no more than about 1,200 students, it has been expanded to accommodate a little over 2,000, and has recently faced severe overcrowding. Portable classrooms have been installed starting in the 2005-2006 school year, and nearly twice as many are planned for the 2006-2007 school year.

1 Principal and Staff
2 Classes and Curriculum
3 Athletics
4 Clubs and Organizations
5 Feeder patterns
6 Sources
7 External links

[edit] Principal and Staff

The current principal of Dutch Fork High School is Jim Taylor, recently brought out of semi-retirement in order to replace the retiring Dr. Ron Cowden. Taylor, a veteran educator who previously served as principal from January 1995 to June 1998, is acting as interim principle for the 2006-2007 school year while a permanent replacement is being searched for. Hailed for his kind and understanding, yet stern management approach, it is expected that Taylor will serve through the course of the year.

A total of 143 teachers and educators work at DFHS, most of which retain vast experience in their respective fields. Of the current teaching staff, 86% hold at least a master's degree in one field and 35 have National Board Certification. On average, teachers hold 14 years of experience.

[edit] Classes and Curriculum

Dutch Fork High School offers grade level, advanced, honors, and AP level courses, giving students a varied set of courses to work with their differing strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the STEM accelerated learning program offers numerous series of science and math courses for students to take an intensive AP/Honors curriculum before moving on to similar studies in college.

A total of 19 Advanced Placement courses are offered in both liberal arts and science/math fields. In addition, 3 college credit classes are offered in cooperation with the University of South Carolina and Midlands Technical College.

[edit] Athletics

DFHS offers numerous award-winning sports and athletic programs to students, as well as intramurals and in-school tournaments that change throughout the year. The school mascot is "Foxy" the Silver Fox and teams are known as the Dutch Fork Silver Foxes, with the exception of the district-wide hockey team: The District Five Fusion.

Baseball
Basketball
Cheerleading
Cross Country
Football
Golf
Hockey
Soccer
Softball
Swimming
Tennis
Track
Volleyball
Wrestling

[edit] Clubs and Organizations

Dutch Fork maintains a very extensive and open collection of student organizations, as well as chapters of state and national organizations such as Key Club, Beta Club, and Jr. Civitans. In addition to the current offering, students are able to found school sponsored clubs in a fashion similar to many colleges and universities: attain a teacher willing to sponsor the group, write a group charter/constitution, and establish yourself with the Student Council office of Clubs & Organizations. The largest group at the present is the "DORK Club", an after-school social club that meets in the library.