Home > South Carolina > Horry County > Carolina Forest High School
Carolina Forest High School
700 Gardner Lacy Road, Myrtle Beach, SC, 29579 -  Map
tel: (843)236-2997
 Input this school's website!  Input this school’s website!
View current housing listings in 29579
Add School Reviews Review school: Add School Reviews - Recommended Add School Reviews - Not Recommended
 Find your graduating class at Classmates.com Find your graduating class!
     
School Overview:
Definition of Terms Carolina Forest High School
School Level High school
Grades Offered Grades 9 - 12
County Horry County, SC
Students & Faculty
Total Students 1533 students
% Male / % Female 49%  /  51%
Total Classroom Teachers 77 teachers
Students by Grade
Grade 9 - 540 students
Grade 10 - 412 students
Grade 11 - 313 students
Grade 12 - 268 students
This School ( SC ) School Average
Teacher : Student Ratio 1:20 1:15
Students by Ethnicity
This School ( SC ) School Average
% American Indian 1% n/a
% Asian 2% 1%
% Hispanic 3% 5%
% Black 18% 44%
% White 76% 49%
Additional Student Information
This School ( SC ) School Average
% Eligible for Free Lunch 30% 47%
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch 7% 8%
% Migrant Students Enrolled n/a n/a
School Performance:
( SC ) Statewide Testing Performance
School Statewide Performance View Education Department Test Scores
School District:
School District Name Horry County School District
This School's Agency ( SC ) District Average
Number of Schools Managed 46 7
Number of Students Managed 34,897 students 4,796 students
District Total Revenue $297,011,000 $32,593,000
District Expenditure $311,135,000 $32,358,000
District Revenue / Student $8,511 $8,131
District Expenditure / Student $8,916 $13,599
District Graduation Rates 88% 86%
School Notes:
  • Carolina Forest High School is located in Horry County, South Carolina in the rapidly developing Carolina Forest attendance area. The school is one of nine high schools within Horry County Schools. The school serves parts of Myrtle Beach and eastern Conway.
  • History: 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. The high school opened with grades 9-10 only. The school was built by Hay Construction Company and was not complete when it opened. 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. She initiated 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. Mr. Shealy was made principal of Carolina Forest Middle School. Ron Malone became principal of Carolina Forest High School. 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 when he left to become principal of Conway High School. Velna Allen, who had served as assistant principal under Maxey became principal and has been at that post since. 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 administative 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 the population explosion in the Carolina Forest area, two new middle schools have been constructed: Ocean Bay Middle School and Blackwater Middle School. OBMS is slated to open January 6th 2007. It is located on International Drive across from Ocean Bay Elementary School. The school will be led by Connie Huddle. Blackwater is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2007 and will be led by Cindy Thibodeau. The school is located off of Highway 90 in Conway, SC. At the end of the 2006-2007 school year the middle school side of campus will become part of one large high school. That high school could potentially grow to one of the largest in South Carolina with as many as 3,000 students attending within 5-6 years.
  • Their 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 their 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. Graduation Requirements: English (4 units), Math (4 units), Science (3 units), Government/Economics (1 unit), US History (1 unit), Social Studies (1 unit), Physical Education or ROTC (1 unit), Foreign Language or Occupational Course (1 unit), Computer Science (1 unit), Electives (7 units) for a total of 24 units. A South Carolina exit exam consisting of two parts of ELA and math must also be passed to receive a high school diploma. Four Year College Additional Requirements: Lab Science (3 units), Foreign Language (2 – 3 units of the same language), Academic Electives (4 units in 3 different academic areas). Placement and Rank 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 2005: Size: 319; Percent attending: four-year college 49%, two-year college 30%, Military 3%, Employment 18%. Scholarship awards totaled $5,824,819.00. Testing: Average SAT score for the graduating class of 2005 – 1058; national average – 1028. Average ACT score is 22.8, highest average in the District and above national average. AP passing test results with a 3 or better are as follows: AP Calculus AB 80%, AP World History 89.5%, AP English Language 67%, AP English Literature 83%, AP US History 42%. State Report Card for 2004 was Good with an AYP Silver Award.
  • Athletics: 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, te 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 imrovements 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 facillities and the quality of coaching at CFHS. He left in 2005. Bubba Lewis then became A.D.
  • Panther Football: Shane Williamson was the first hea coach for varsity football ar 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 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 go work at Broome HS. 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 cane from Beaufort HS and had to deal with the transition. 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), 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 2-8 season in 2006.
  • Facilities: CFHS consists of a main forum building that houses the front office, band, chorus, and ROTC classrooms, a small auditorium, the cafeteria, locker rooms, and two gymnasiums (one large, one small.) On one side of the forum there are three houses (A-C) and three atrium buildings including a media center. the other side is almost a mirror image except it holds four houses (D-G). Due to the rampant growth, there are several portables on both sides of campus. The campus also has a football stadium with track, four lighted tennis courts, a softball field, baseball field and greenhouse for use by the agriculture ed. classes.
  • Awards: Average SAT, ACT, and AP scores are above the national average.
  • Mock Trial team advance to the state competition three out of the last four years.
  • 10 honors societies, all affiliated with their national organizations.
  • Award-winning band played in the Independence Day parade in Washington, DC.
  • The NJROTC unit was honored with Unit Achievement this year, and named Distinguished Unit with honors the past two school years, along with Unit Achievement its first year.
  • We The People Competition State Champions of 2004.
  • SCSPA - Best of Broadcast - Panther News.
  • SCSPA - All-State Rating - Panther News 2006.
  • SIPA - All-Southern Rating - Panther News 2006.
  • Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL
  • Add information about this school (e.g., awards, news stories, notable alumni, fun facts)
 
School Zip Code:
About This Zip Code (29579)
School Zip (29579) (SC) State Average
Population (Approximate) 15,020 people 3,827,690 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree 29% 21%
Population Average Age 33 years old 35.4 years old
Average Household size 2.5 persons 2.3 persons
Median Household Income $38,492 $37,524
Avg. # of Rooms in Household 5.1 rooms 5.4 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure 13 years old 32 years old
View current housing listings in 29579
% Owning / % Renting 69% / 31% 69% / 31%
School Map:
 Get: driving directions View weather forecasts and averages Weather: 10-day forecast or monthly climate averages.

  Nearby Schools:
1. Socastee High School - 1315 students - view location
2. Academy For Arts Science & Tec - n/a - view location
3. Myrtle Beach High School - 1220 students - view location
4. Saint James High School - 1180 students - view location
View all schools in: Myrtle Beach Town, Horry County, Zip 29579 
Tip: Zoom in/out using the slider below. View aerial photos using the Satellite or Hybrid buttons.
Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects years 2002-04 statistics (most recent years available). Area and demographic data reflects year 2000 statistics. Public School Review does not ensure the timeliness or accuracy of the information on this site.

  Quick Links:
•  Find housing: View current housing listings in 29579
•  Reconnect: Find your graduating class at Classmates.com Find your graduating class at Classmates.com
•  Review:  Add School Reviews Review school: Add School Reviews - Recommended Add School Reviews - Not Recommended
•  Tools: Search schools by zip, Compare schools side-by-side
•  More schools: Private schools, Boarding schools & military schools
•  Return to: Horry County public schools, South Carolina public schools, Home

Featured Partners: