Hampton County High School, located in Varnville, South Carolina in rural Hampton County, is committed to preparing students with the World Class Skills they need to follow their self-determined educational and career paths. Our school’s primary goal is to give our students a rigorous education while fostering creativity, promoting collaboration and teamwork, developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and encouraging a work ethic of perseverance and integrity as represented in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate. A key pillar of our goals is a growth mindset. Yearly, we strive to make more than a year’s worth of growth within our students. We know that with the right mindset, we can motivate our kids and help them to improve in school as well as reach our own goals both personally and academically.
Professionally, we are always seeking to learn and refine our practices. We have established a strong professional learning community here at Hampton County High School. Through evidence-based initiatives our teachers experience ongoing embedded weekly professional development through clusters (PLCs) and collaborative meetings. Our teachers are life-long learners that are reflective of their own learning as well as their students and track that progress though reflective data driven student learning outcome notebooks (SLOs). In addition to the support of a leadership team and the instructional coach, our staff members observe, coach, model, and team teach with their peers. The majority of our certified staff members have completed the SCDE Approved R2S Content Area Reading and Writing coursework in pursuit of the Read to Succeed Literacy Endorsement. We have also had one teacher complete her doctorate degree this school year.
Personally, we work on bettering ourselves and value not only academics but developing the “whole child”. The ultimate goal is to prepare our students for a successful career after high school. Hampton County High School provides students with options and opportunities to pursue their goals and dreams. We encourage our students to consider Advanced Placement courses, our various vocational programs, as well as our job internships. Our students have the opportunity to earn career-based certifications that provide direct entry into potential career paths. Through these certification courses, students develop the skills necessary to collaborate with others, assess their own strengths and weaknesses, and develop a strong foundation of how to learn about and function within a career.
In addition to the certifications, programs, and course offerings on our campus, we encourage our students to partake in academic experiences beyond our walls. Through our partnerships with the Technical College of the Lowcountry and the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie, students have the opportunity to earn dual credits and potentially finish high school with an Associate’s Degree.
We believe the school, family, and community must share the educational responsibility of our students. We value the support of our parents, faculty, and community partners as we work together to provide a safe, challenging environment where students are actively involved in developing skills needed in an ever-changing world. Working together we can create an atmosphere that allows our teachers to teach and our students to eagerly learn. Continuous communication is essential. We know together, we can make a difference.
We are proud of the accomplishments we have made this school year. Offering educational opportunities that will grow our students into well-rounded, articulate, problem solvers who will go out into the world equipped to make it a better place for themselves, the communities in which they will live, and each individual they will encounter is our continued focus.
Cassandra B. Williams, Principal and LaSonya Bryson-Murdaugh, SIC Chair
