| Carolina Forest High School | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1994 |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Principal | Gaye Driggers |
| Faculty | 156 |
| Students | 2,300 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Carolina Forest, South Carolina, USA |
| Oversight | Horry County School District |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colors | Black, Burgundy, and Silver |
| Mascot | Panthers |
| Website | http://cfh.horrycountyschools.net/ |
Carolina Forest High School is located in Horry County, South Carolina, in the Carolina Forest attendance area. The school is one of ten high schools within Horry County Schools. The school serves parts of Myrtle Beach and eastern Conway. Approximately 1,843 students attend Carolina Forest High School (grades 9-12) each year. It is currently led by Principal Gaye Driggers.
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Carolina Forest High School was designed by LS3P Associates, Ltd. The school was built by Hay Construction Company, and construction was nearly complete when the school opened on August 25, 1997. The school opened as Carolina Forest Education Center and was originally designed and intended to serve grades 6-12. Although the combined middle school/high school idea has long since been abandoned, the 352,078-square-foot (32,709.1 m2), sixty acre facility is now used as a high school. The basic structure of this facility is based on an 1876 schoolhouse.
Recent improvements to the school include full renovation of all science labs on the southwest side of campus and conversion of many of the auxiliary buildings into student amenity centers.
In 1997, Carolina Forest Education Center opened and welcomed students from the Conway, Myrtle Beach, and Socastee attendance areas. The middle school opened with grades 6-8, but the high school opened with grades 9-10 only. Wendell Shealy was principal over the entire complex. The school was not complete when it opened, as several buildings were still under construction, particularly on the high school side. There was little in the way of landscaping, grass, and amenities. Kimmie Tomlinson, also known as "Miss Kimmie" led the effort to bring unity to the school by initiating several efforts to instill spirit and pride in the new school. Many students still felt connected to the schools they came from. It took a couple of years for CFHS to establish its own identity. Eventually the "Education Center" concept was scrapped. In later years, Shealy was made principal of Carolina Forest Middle School and Ron Malone became principal of Carolina Forest High School, although his tenure was short. There were a series of interim principals for the high school which created instability and a lack of progress. Rick Maxey assumed the principalship of CFHS from 1998-2000. Eventually, Maxey left Carolina Forest High School to become principal of Conway High School. Velna Allen, who had served as assistant principal under Maxey, became principal and remains in that post presently. Under her leadership, the school has grown and established itself as one of the leading academic schools in the county. Allen had been a mathematics teacher at Conway High School for several years prior to her administrative positions at CFHS. At the end of the 2004-2005 school year Wendell Shealy retired after a long and distinguished career. His vision and leadership laid the foundation for many of the programs taken for granted at both schools. Cindy Thibodeau became principal of Carolina Forest Middle School. At the end of the 2005-2006 school year Carolina Forest Middle School ceased to exist. Due to a population explosion in the Carolina Forest area, two new middle schools have been constructed: Ocean Bay Middle School and Blackwater Middle School. The old middle school section of the Carolina Forest Education Center has now been absorbed into the high school. The school now consists of 14 separate buildings: 7 Academic Hallways, a library building, an art studio, a journalism building, a fitness center, a drama building, an auxiliary building, and a central building containing the main offices, an auditorium, a cafeteria, two gymnasiums, and several classrooms.
The modern facility offers our students in grades 9–12 numerous advantages, including advanced technology, modern science laboratories, advanced placement courses, college credits, honors, college preparatory, and career academic assistance classes. The Carolina Forest High School Panther family is dedicated to providing students with the educational challenges and opportunities that will prepare them to compete successfully as life-long learners in global society.
Accreditation: Approved and accredited by the South Carolina Department of Education and the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Associating Colleges and Schools.
The faculty consists of: 102 professionals with 35 holding Bachelor’s Degrees, 54 Master’s Degrees, 10 Master’s Degree + 30 and 3 Doctorate Degrees.
Carolina Forest High School students are placed in classes based upon achievement on standardized tests, teacher recommendation, and course availability. Students are ranked at the end of their junior year, the 135th day of their senior year, and final rank is calculated at the end of the senior year. Rank is calculated based on all courses taken using the South Carolina Uniform Grading scale.
Graduating class of 2009: Size: 314; Percent attending: four-year college 49%, two-year college 32%, Military 3%, Employment 16%. Scholarship awards totaled $ 7,322,586.00
Testing: Average SAT score for the graduating class of 2009–1048; national average – 1017. Average ACT score is 21.5; national average 21.1. AP passing test results with a 3 or better are as follows: AP Calculus AB 88%, AP World History 86%, AP English Language 83%, AP English Literature 69%, AP US History 46%, AP Biology 53%.
In 1997, Mark Roach was hired as athletic director. His immediate concern was facilities. The school lacked proper facilities for many of its teams, including football. Roach and Shane Williamson, the first head football coach at CFHS, worked hard to obtain funding for a football stadium that was completed in time for the 1998 season. Roach did such an outstanding job that he was hired by Horry County Schools to oversee a phased in development plan for athletic facilities throughout the district. Under this plan, all Horry County Schools saw major improvements over the course of several years. Tennis courts were built, baseball and football stadiums improved, including the construction of the long overdue Backyard at Conway High School. Roach was eventually hired by Coastal Carolina University as assistant athletic director. Mickey Wilson, Sr. took over for Roach and headed athletics until 2000 when Michael Morris took over. Coach Morris led several efforts to improve facilities and the quality of coaching at CFHS. He left in 2005. Bubba Lewis then became A.D. and held the position until 2008. Boe Rainbow was named interim Athletic Director and has held the position since.
Shane Williamson was the first head coach for varsity football at CFHS. His dynamic personality and hard work paid dividends in the 1999 season when the team made a deep run into the State AAA Playoffs, eventually losing to Marion in the lower state semi-finals. The team had a tough defense led by Lounzy Green ({Coastal Carolina University}), Keith Sherman, Tyke Greene (Citadel), and Jack Johnson (USC transferred to South Carolina State.) At the end of that year, Williamson had an opportunity to work at Broome High School. It was a hard decision, but one that eventually led him to become even more heavily involved with the FCA Program. He now works for FCA in Atlanta.
Michael "Doc" Davis was hired to replace Williamson. Davis came from Edisto High School in Orangeburg County. His first few teams had little success. The 2004 season was clearly going to be a good one with a highly talented senior class including QB Zach Cerny, TE/DL Drew Seay(CCU), RB/LB Tommy Fraser (CCU), OL/DL Jake Brown (UT), WR Jamel Green, and many other quality players. Coach Davis, who was a member of the South Carolina Army National Guard, was called to duty in Iraq. He missed the 2004 season and defensive coach Robbie Brown, a former Clemson assistant, took over as interim head coach. The team had its best season in history going deep into the playoffs eventually losing at Manning 45-35 in the lower state semifinals. Davis returned to the sidelines the following season. The team, having lost a host of talented players, took a step back in 2005. Davis was replaced by North Augusta's Drew Hummel who went on to a undefeated season in 2006 winning the state championship. However, the team became the biggest surprise of the 2007 season when they went 8-4, including a surprise victory over Carver's Bay High.
The team moved to AAAA in 2008 and had a difficult transition. In 2010, however, the team finished 7-4 including a thrilling 46-42 victory over rival Conway in the final game of the season. That game was significant because it was the first victory over Conway in school history and came just two days after the unexpected death of assistant coach Allen Armstrong. Quarterback Danny Daly threw 6 touchdown passes and ran for another. Jarvez Holmes had 4 touchdown receptions and two interceptions in the first half. Despite the win the team missed out on a playoff spot by one point.
The Carolina Forest High School Band program is part of the fine arts department. It consists mainly of a symphonic Winds and a marching band, but has also operated several ancillary ensembles (sometimes non-consecutively) over the years, including jazz band, indoor drumline/guard, boys varsity basketball pep band, chamber brass ensemble, etc. They compete in marching band, participate in concert festival, solo and ensemble as well as many parades and other community activities.
In year 2001-02 the band won its first ever Grand Championship during this season at the Tabor City competition. It repeated this success, the following year. After the conclusion of the 2002-03 school year, the marching band represented the state of South Carolina in the national Independence Day parade in Washington, D.C.. Under the direction of Jay Harward, the Marching Panthers recently competed in 2010 at SCBDA 4AAAA State Championships for the first time in school history with their marching show, named "Destination Unknown," and earned "Superior" in in every category at concert festival, as well as earning the Outstanding Performance Award (OPA) for the first time in the school's history..In 2011, the Marching Panthers also qualified for State Championships, earning a "Superior" rating, as well as the distinction as the number 6 4A marching band in South Carolina, beating out bands more than twice their size. You can learn more about the Carolina Forest bands by visiting their website at www.cfhsband.com [1]
Run by Coach Larry Blue, the Carolina Forest Swim team does very well in swim meets, and often once a season the swimmers go down to Sumter, South Carolina, to race against their swim team. They had won Regionals in 2009, and is hoping to this year. The season lasts from the beginning of august to the middle of November, which ends with states. The CFHS Swim Team is now currently run under the direction of coaches Larry Blue, Michelle Rutherberg, and Amanda Lane.