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CONWAY — When the idea for the Scholars Academy was pitched more than 20 years ago, it was unlike anything at Horry County Schools. The school district introduced the program in the summer of 2003 to give high-achieving students a way to study beyond a typical high school curriculum. “Programs like this weren’t very common,” Scholars' first full-time teacher Veronica Maxey said.
“It was really a step out without solid ground for a while.” Scholars Academy offered local high school students an opportunity to take four years of AP courses alongside college classes on Coastal Carolina University’s campus . Once the program was approved, Maxey was tasked with recruiting students.
Scholars Academy's graduating class of 2007, the then-program's first ever graduating class. "The interesting thing [from] the interview process was that in the first year, it was totally opposite in that it was like they were interviewing me," Maxey said. "I would spend an hour, sometimes more, with every student who was interested.
And I would try to answer the questions as honestly as I could, but some things we weren’t too sure of yet." Those questions were quickly answered. And over two decades later, Scholars Academy is the No.
1-ranked high school in South Carolina , according to the state report cards released last month. This was the program’s first year of eligibility for a report card, as it has now been a standalone school for at least four years. Previously, Scholars students were considered with their local high school even though they took their classes at Scholars.
Myrtle Beach pastor JP Miller was charged with assault. His lawyer blames a protester. Maxey said the program has changed dramatically from the inaugural year when Scholars accepted 22 students for the ninth grade class.
Back then, students had to figure out how to navigate Coastal's campus and find a place to eat lunch. Now, students have their own dedicated building and total attendance is almost 10 times that of the first year's total. "Over 20 years, Scholars Academy has been a very well kept secret," Scholars Academy Principal Norman McQueen said.
"The work that people, the students and teachers, were doing was kind of kept hush-hush. And we kind of threw the door open last [month], kind of invited everyone in. And I’m very proud of that, of the recognition that the students and teachers are receiving.
” The 2024 graduating class of 34 students racked up numerous accolades. Along with being accepted into colleges and universities, they received over $7.7 million in scholarship money and three were named QuestBridge scholars.
Scholars Academy's class of 2024, the school's first graduating class four years since it became a standalone school. Sarah Bell, class of 2012, arrived on the CCU campus when she was just 13 years old. "(That) instilled in me a confidence that when I went to the honor college at USC, it was no big deal," she said.
"The transition to that university was so much easier because I had already been doing that for four years.” Other alumni offered similar assessments. They said Scholars introduced them to a collegiate schedule and they got to engage with older students while still in high school.
"It’s like you’re thrown right into the fire," Michael Foltz, class of 2019, said. "But that definitely made college much easier." Former student sues Coastal Carolina University, blames fraternity hazing for severe injuries As former teacher Georgia Holley put it, students “learn how to eat a sandwich as they walk across campus to their next class,” alluding to the time management skills asked of a college schedule.
Several former students said they were able to fast-track their undergrad degrees because of Scholars. 4 of the country's fastest-growing churches are in this SC county, a new report shows “For one thing, I graduated school debt-free,” Caleb Jordan, class of 2019, said. “I finished my undergraduate at Clemson University in two years and then did my master's degree in one year.
Had I not gone to Scholars and gotten those credits, I would have spent two additional years in school for the same qualifications and likely would have incurred some debt that way." While the program gives students a head start on their collegiate careers, it also presents challenges. "[It's] not for the faint of heart," McQueen said.
"You’ve got to want to do it for yourself. You don’t do it for your parents or because you think 'that’s what I should do because my test scores are something.’ You do it because you want to do it.
" Nearly 2,000 Carolina Forest students will likely be switching schools next year. Here's why. Holley said she didn't know of any other programs that offered a similar curriculum.
"I remember early on we wanted to visit other programs anywhere in the country like ours and we couldn’t find others that were a combination of the Advance Placement classes (AP) and academic rigors we held our students to [with a] university connection," Holley said. "There might be some now ..
. [but] it was definitely a groundbreaking program." Horry County Schools working 'diligently' to craft new cellphone ban, officials say While expectations have changed throughout the years, in order to graduate students are required to complete a minimum of seven AP courses, take at least one AP course a year and complete 15 hours of community service each school year.
Specifically, students are required to take AP English language, AP English literature, AP government and politics, AP history, and their choice of any AP science and AP math class offered. Despite the requirements, former students said they appreciated the challenge. "I had some friends who did go to a magnet school and they were very much .
.. kind of at a high level of academic expectation," AJ Jordan, class of 2018, said.
"Scholars didn’t have that expectation. It just had the skill where, if you weren’t at that (high) level, you either left or you worked hard to get to that level of your peers because you wanted to, not because you felt pressured to." Logan Howard, class of 2011, agreed.
Former Horry County special ed teacher abused students years before his arrest, new lawsuit claims "We were allowed to kind of challenge ourselves a lot," he said. "I ended up taking, I think, 12 AP courses. .
.. I don’t know if that’s typical now, but I felt like I was really given a lot of opportunity to succeed, which kind of leveraged me being able to improve my future a lot.
" Beyond the academic challenge and college credits, former staff and alumni raved about the social benefits of the small program. "We had a really, really good support system with all the teachers and all the students that were there," Yesenia Avalos, class of 2012, said. Yesenia said she still thinks of several teachers at the school and the discussions they would hold with one another.
For Lisa Pieterse, who moved to the Myrtle Beach area from South Africa, the school provided kindred spirits. "A lot of students (there) were immigrants who were also academically gifted," Pieterse said. "But a lot of us were struggling to make connections with teachers.
So, the smaller classrooms actually enabled us to come out of our shells, actually get a good education and communicate with teachers one-on-one to learn topics better.” A Myrtle Beach student was expelled for not reporting a classmate's gun. Was he threatened? Additionally, students are also allowed to participate in athletics or extracurriculars at the high schools they would have attended based on where they live.
“I played football and baseball at my base school,” Howard said. “And I wasn’t the only one who played sports back at a base school. It was an interesting dynamic, maintaining a friendship.
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I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a challenge, but it was certainly a unique experience." Despite the school's generally favorable reception, Scholars faced pushback when it decided to become a standalone institution. Prior to the change, Scholars Academy students were not ranked against one another.
Students were still graduates of their respective high schools, so they were ranked against their peers at their base schools. That led to some resentment. "When I would talk to students who weren’t exposed to Scholars Academy students directly via sports or intramural activities, they were quite negative about the school," Pieterse said.
"It did feel a bit disparaging because there was a lot of competition with rankings." A petition in 2018 by a Socastee High School student argued that Scholars Academy students had an advantage over their base school peers by having immediate access to dual-enrollment and AP courses all four years, thus boosting their GPAs and high school rankings. The primary concern was that as a result of a higher rank at their respective schools, Scholars students could receive class-ranked based state scholarships such as Palmetto Fellows over base-school students who did not have the advantage of taking highly weighted classes all throughout high school.
This prompted Horry County Schools to make the program into a standalone school. Although alumni weren’t sure about the decision at first, some said it's turned out well. “I thought it might keep people from coming to Scholars,” Caleb Jordan said.
“But after seeing the report card, it seems (attendance) isn’t an issue and the standards are still as high as ever.” Throughout all the changes over the years, one view of the school remains constant: earning the state's top ranking was never a question of "if" but "when." "The success of Scholars Academy, 20-something years in, is a result of hundreds of people, students, parents, teachers, administrators, the district office, just lots of people who brought in a very unique concept," Holley, the former teacher, said.
"And I’m just really excited that people across the state are getting to see what I and other people have known for a long time. That is, how truly special Scholars Academy is.".
