A message from Ms. Driggers

Welcome to The Forest – Home of the Panthers! 

In the fall of 1997, the Carolina Forest Education Center opened its doors to students in grades 6 -10 from areas of Conway, Myrtle Beach, and Socastee. With phenomenal growth, we soon became Carolina Forest High School and began to build a tradition of excellence in academics, athletics, and the visual and performing arts. We continue to see growth after 27 years of tradition.  

We are bringing positive energy and building relationships with each other and our community as we continue to be recognized for excellence in academics, fine arts, sports, and extracurricular offerings for our students. Our Science,Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program continues to flourish through our AP Computer Science, AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics classes as well as Project Lead The Way (PLTW) with its Engineering, Architecture, Biomedical, and Cybersecurity classes. The success of our PLTW program is demonstrated by Carolina Forest High being recognized as a Distinguished Project Lead The Way School. Our Principles of Biomedical teacher Jenna Miller was named an Outstanding PLTW Teacher. Known for academic rigor and its continued high passage rate above the state and international level, our AP program, including AP Capstone and Research, offers our students an opportunity to receive an AP Diploma from the College Board. Students may choose from 24 advanced placement classes, the highest number offered in our district. In fact, CFHS ranks high in the state in AP rankings. In addition, US News & World Report ranked us as one of the best high schools in the state. With a continued emphasis on fine arts, such as Creative Writing, Journalism, Digital Photography, Orchestra, Marching and Symphonic Band, Musical Performance and Theory, and Technical and Performance Theatre, as well as Career and Technology Education (CTE) classes, dual enrollment with Horry-Georgetown Technical College (HGTC), and Completer Status in Business and Agricultural Science Programs, the Panthers have opportunities unmatched by any other HCS high school.

Our students continue to perform well on state and national assessments. Our course offerings and the number of students taking AP classes steadily grow. We have continued to provide a growing AP membership as we engage and prepare students to embrace the challenge of rigorous courses. In 2023-2024, we offered 24 AP classes onsite; six of our AP classes scored a 100% passage rate, while 22 AP classes surpassed the State and Global average.  With 709 AP exams, our student passage rate was 86%, still well above state and global averages. In our seventh year, we continue to see an increase in enrollment in our STEM Project Lead the Way program, offering Engineering, Biomedical, Cybersecurity, and Architectural courses. Students who achieve an Accomplished or Distinguished score on PLTW exams receive a weighted GPA in college, and we are proud that 87% of our students earned this distinction.

Our visual and performing arts programs speak for themselves. The CFHS marching band, the largest in Horry County Schools, received three Superior with Distinction state ratings. The CFHS Color Guard also placed first in the state. Additionally, Carolina Forest has the largest high school orchestra in Horry County, with 92 students. Of those, 42 students represented CFHS at Horry County’s All-County orchestra, 30 represented at the region level, and eight represented at the state level. The orchestra also received the highest rating of Superior with distinction at the Concert Performance Assessment held by our South Carolina Music Educators Association. The CFHS theater department performed four different shows last year. Attending two theater festivals/competitions and receiving superior ratings at both. The department also performed at the Horry County Literacy Council Murder Mystery Gala. The highlight of our season was the 13 performances of Matilda The Musical in the spring and three amazing performances of Clue Onstage in the fall of 2024, which was referred to as one of the funniest shows at CFHS. 

The CFHS athletes has extensive athletics, including cross country, football, golf, tennis, swimming, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, baseball, soccer, track, softball, and lacrosse. Carolina Forest High School offers a variety of athletic opportunities for students. We proudly provide state-of-the-art facilities, including a rubber track and turf field. The CFHS athletes had an incredible 2023-24 year with 16 varsity teams qualifying for the 5A State Playoffs, 11 of which won the Region V 5A Championship. Our Girls Tennis team won the SCHSL 5A State Championship. Boys Volleyball finished as the 5A State Runner-Up. The Girls Golf team finished as the 5A Lower State Runner Up.  In the fall, a member of the boys swimming team placed 3rd in the individual state 200 Free, and two girls tennis players finished 1st and 3rd in the individual state championship. In the winter, two wrestlers finished 2nd and 3rd in the individual state tournament, and in the spring, a girls track member brought home the 5A State Title in High Jump.

Carolina Forest offers over 40 clubs and organizations. These offerings include Mock Trial, Robotics, Future Farmers of America (FFA), We the People, Gaming/Esports, and Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA). For more information on the entire list of offerings, please visit our school website. 

When you have the opportunity, I encourage you to visit our campus and see the displays of our athletic and academic accomplishments for yourself. I also encourage you to visit our website (https://www.horrycountyschools.net/Carolina_Forest_High_School) and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/carolinaforesthighschoo)l to discover all the academic and athletic programs CFHS has to offer. Our students, faculty, staff, parents, and community have been instrumental in our successes. 

Remember, the relationships built during the school year with staff and students will last a lifetime.  As we move throughout the school year, let us be mindful of the importance of being encouraging, patient, and thankful. 

Sincerely,

Gaye Driggers