Wilson High School (South Carolina)

Wilson High School is one of three high schools in Florence Public School District One in Florence, South Carolina, United States. It is the only high school in Florence County that offers the International Baccalaureate diploma.

Wilson High School
Address
1411 Old Marion Highway

Florence, South Carolina 29506
Information
School typePublic
Founded1866
PrincipalEric Robinson
Staff83.00 (FTE)[1]
Enrollment1,232 (2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio14.84[1]
Color(s)Royal purple and gold   
MascotTiger
NewspaperThe Purple and Gold[2]
WebsiteWilson High School

History

Wilson was founded in 1866 by the Freedmen's Bureau as a school for African-American children. Wilson was named for the late Rev. Josh Wilson, a Black local postmaster, Christian minister and father of the late Dr. Roscoe Wilson. The school opened on the corner of Palmetto and Dargan Streets in downtown Florence. The school has existed in four different locations. Since 1982, Wilson has been on Old Marion Highway northeast of Florence, after having moved from a building on North Irby Street in downtown Florence.

In 1996 Wilson became the second International Baccalaureate school in South Carolina. The first IB class graduated in 1999, and a class has been graduated in each year since. The first class to complete both the Middle-Years Program and the IB program graduated in 2002.

Academics

Wilson's We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution debate team won the annual state competition in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.

Wilson has won the Pee Dee Regional Academic Challenge AAA/AAAA championship eleven out of the past twelve years, and won the 2010 State Championship.

International Baccalaureate Programme

Wilson is the home of the final two years of the one Florence chapter of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP), which begins at Florence's Williams Middle School. Wilson is also home to the only Florence chapter of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). The International Baccalaureate helps students "think critically, synthesize knowledge, reflect on their own thought processes and get their feet wet in interdisciplinary thinking," said Howard Gardner, an educational psychologist at Harvard University.[3]

Athletics

Wilson competes in the AAAA classification of the South Carolina High School League and is located in Lower State, Region VII with Myrtle Beach High School, North Myrtle Beach High School, St. James High School, and Marlboro County High School.

In 2002, the varsity baseball team won the AAA state championship. The boys' basketball team and the varsity football team won AAA state championships in 2007.

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Wilson High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  2. The Purple and Gold
  3. Gross, Jane (June 21, 2003). "Diploma for the 'Top of the Top'; International Baccalaureate Gains Favor in Region". New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  4. "Justin Durant". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  7. "WHSAA: Wilson High School Alumni Association History". Retrieved 2008-01-05.

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