January

• For School Board Appreciation month, HCS celebrated the 12 members of its Board of Education.

• The HCS All-Star Band (comprised of marching bands from all attendance areas) and JROTC units participated in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.

February

• Student musicians from around the district performed in the All-County concerts, including middle and high school orchestras, middle and high school bands, middle and high school wind ensembles, and elementary, middle, and high school choirs.

• United Way of Horry County and over 145 volunteers visited first-grade classes districtwide and read to the students for the United to Read event.

• HCS ended the requirement for students and staff to wear masks on school buses, moving everyone just a little closer to “back to normal.”

March

• HCS hosted its 13th annual Technology Fair, where students participated in a science fair-style competition and interacted with numerous exhibits. Members of the community served as judges.

• Aynor High was named a Safe Sports School by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. This designation recognizes that the school takes crucial steps to keep its athletes free from injuries and reinforces the importance of providing the best care, injury prevention, and treatment.

• Conway High hosted the annual Health Science Career Fair, where students from around our county spoke to representatives and learned more about their opportunities in our local healthcare industry.

April

• The second annual Horry County Track and Field Championship was held at North Myrtle Beach High.

May

• Conway High gives its graduating seniors in Health Science Technology their white coats to signify their enrollment in medical and healthcare industries and higher education.

September

• Myrtle Beach Middle held its first contract signing for the AVID college readiness program.

• Almost 1000 kindergarten through fifth-grade students attended the READCamp MVP celebration at the HTC Center to celebrate their success in the summer READCamp program.

• The Myrtle Beach Tennis Center, co-managed by HCS and the City of Myrtle Beach, was renamed the Rivers Lynch Tennis Center.

October

• Cross-country runners from schools district wide competed at the District Cross-Country Meet at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex.

• Middle school football teams compete against each other in the first-ever middle school football bowl games sponsored by HTC. 

• The Academy for the Arts, Science & Technology hosted the district theater festival, where high schools (and one middle school) performed 45-minute-long one-act plays.

November

• Over 28,000 HCS students from pre-K through eighth grade participated in the READMarathon, an event that builds students’ reading stamina by capturing the fun and excitement of a running marathon and motivating kids to set new personal reading records.

• Marching band and color guard members from high schools districtwide met at Loris High to show off their skills in the Marching Band Extravaganza, then combined for one spectacular performance.

December

• Socastee High renamed their newly-renovated basketball court “Coach D” court in honor of former coach Dan D’Antoni.

Reneé Atkinson is an Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) English teacher at Aynor High School and began her teaching career at HCS in 2004. 

Renee’ earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Clemson University, a Master of Secondary English degree from Francis Marion University, and an Education Specialist degree from Liberty University. She is also a National Board Certified teacher.

Watch Mrs. Atkinson's acceptance speech:

Alexis Del Castillo is a 6th-grade science and 7th-grade math teacher at Ocean Bay Middle School and began his teaching career at HCS in 2020. 

Alexis is a graduate of Coastal Carolina University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Middle Level Education in Math and Science.

Watch Mr. Del Castillo's acceptance speech:

Mr. Howard is an in-school suspension aide at Myrtle Beach Primary School and began his career with HCS in 2016.

Watch Mr. Howard's acceptance speech:

Total enrollment district-wide: 46,738

Total staff: 6,149

Total # of teachers: 2,929

Teachers with a master’s degree: 1,829 (65%)

Average years of teacher experience: 11

Average teacher pay: $62,105

Teacher salaries: (as of 8/24/22) 

• BA = $43,761 - $76,000

• MA = $48,792 - $85,120

The HCS Board of Education increased teacher salaries an additional 4% over the state’s budgeted increase.

Avg class size overall: 23 [present as silhouettes, or add to bar graph below?]

Avg class size by grade level: [present as bar graph?]

• Grades 9-12 - 24

• Grades 6-8 - 25.25

• Grades 4-5 - 24.5

• Grades 1-3 - 21.5

• Kindergarten* - 25.5

• Child Development* - 20

  • *Kindergarten and CD classes also have a teacher assistant.

Student demographics (race/ethnicity): [present as pie chart?]

• White: 59.38%

• African American: 17.47%

• Hispanic/Latino: 14.09%

• Other: 9.07%

  • Asian: 1.41%

  • American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.62%

  • Two or More races: 6.75%

  • Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 0.28%

  • Unclassified: 0.01%

• Total number of graduates: 2,847

• Scholarship money earned: $85.6 million

• Dual-enrollment courses taken: 3,047

• 72% of graduates plan to attend either a two-year or four-year college or university

• 71% of college-bound graduates met eligibility requirements for scholarships supported by the South Carolina Education Lottery

• 64% of college-bound seniors will attend post-secondary schools in South Carolina

• 50% of graduates earned Seals of Distinction

Avg SAT score: 

• HCS: 1040

• SC: 1023

• National: 1028

Avg ACT score: [present as bar graphs?]

• HCS composite: 18

• SC composite: 18.5

• USA composite: 19.8

AP test results

• Overall pass rate: 72.8%

  • State pass rate: 63%

• Participants: 1,894

• Exams taken: 2,809

State Report card results

• 61% of qualifying schools (31/49 schools)* rated Excellent or Good on 2021-22 SC state report card

  • *Early childhood, primary, alternative, and academy schools do not receive SC state report cards. Charter schools are not included in this count.

• On-time graduation rate: 83.1%

  • State’s rate: 83.8%

• College or career ready: 72.8%

  • State’s rate: 65.8%

• SC READY met/exceeding

  • ELA: 52.6% State’s rate: 46.6%

  • Math: 46.9% State’s rate: 38.9%

• SC PASS met/exceeding

  • Science: 53.7% State’s rate: 46%

• EOCs

  • English II: 68.7% State: 57.9%

  • Algebra: 58.6% State: 44.2%

  • Biology: 58.8% State: 46.9%

  • U.S. History: 51.2% State: 37.8%

Habitat for Humanity of Horry County and the Horry Georgetown Home Builders Association supplied materials and guidance to the students enrolled in the building construction program at the Academy for Technology and Academics. Students applied what they learned in the classroom and gained practical, hands-on experience building a home for a community member in need. 

At Thanksgiving, RipTydz Oceanfront Grille & Rooftop Bar donated turkeys to families in need by delivering them to schools around the district, where the turkeys were given to students with identified need.

Office Depot/OfficeMax donated over $20,000 to Riverside Elementary in the form of a shopping spree. This money was generated by their Give Back to Schools fundraiser, and this is the second year in a row that they have chosen to donate to an Horry County school.

United Way of Horry County hosted several reading events in schools, including “United to Read” in February and November and “Caring for Kindergartners” in March. They also held the annual Caring Cup competition, encouraging schools to contribute to the United Way charity. St. James High won the Caring Cup this year.

Publix donated over $24,000 to schools in their communities. The money was raised as part of their Tools for Back to School campaign to assist with school supplies for students and teachers.

HTC sponsored football bowl games for middle school teams around the district.

Santee Cooper provided a $103,300 education sponsorship to support students and teachers for STEM-related (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs and events.

The City of Myrtle Beach continued to work closely with HCS and Myrtle Beach High in its maintenance and renovation of the Myrtle Beach Tennis Center. To celebrate the completion of significant renovations, they agreed to rename it the Rivers Lynch Tennis Center in honor and memory of the legendary teacher and coach.

Coastal Carolina University and Horry-Georgetown Technical College collaborated with HCS on the informational campaign for the penny sales tax referendum, which passed in November 2022.

• Installation of new bi-polar ionization devices (air purification) in all schools and buildings

• Renovations at the Myrtle Beach Tennis Center (including renaming it the Rivers Lynch Tennis Center)

• Completion of the new track at Aynor High and North Myrtle Beach High

• Installation of electronic message boards at all middle schools.

• Completion of parent loop roads at Aynor Middle, Lakewood Elementary, and Riverside Elementary.

• Completion of Phase 1 of new monument signs and digital message boards by installation at eight elementary schools.

• Ongoing major roofing and HVAC replacements at multiple schools.

• Installation of artificial turf fields at four high schools.

• Groundbreaking on the new Whittemore Park Middle School, expected to be ready for students in the fall of 2024.

Bonds and levies

• Horry County citizens voted to renew the Education Capital Improvement Sales and Use Sales Tax. This tax funds capital improvements for public schools and allows for more collaboration for educational programs among Horry County Schools, Coastal Carolina University, and Horry-Georgetown Technical College. Estimates indicate this will amount to over $1.55 billion for HCS over the next 15 years.

Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) has awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to Horry County Schools for its annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021.

The Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) has recognized Horry County Schools for excellence in budget presentation with the Meritorious Budget Award (MBA) for the fiscal year 2021–2022. This award recognizes the district’s commitment to sound fiscal management and budgetary policies.

Revenue:

• Local: $322,562,696 (45.31%)

• Intergovernmental: $1,518,062 (0.21%)

• State: $247,124,874 (34.72%)

• Federal: $51,090,545 (7.18%)

• Other: $45,168,845 (6.35%)

• Fund Balance: $44,392,620 (6.24%)

• Total: $711,857,642 (100.00%)

Expenditures: 

• Instruction: $333,744,005 (46.88%)

• Supporting Services: $209,502,322 (29.43%)

• Community Services: $2,545,080 (0.36%)

• Debt Services: $62,999,871 (8.85%)

• Facilities & Construction: $48,722,495 (6.84%)

• Other: $54,343,869 (7.63%)

• Total: $711,857,642 (100.00%)