Colleton County Middle

The Colleton County Middle School and High School staff engaged parents and students with stations around the school with important information to help get the 2025-2026 school year started off in the right direction. The transportation department was also on hand to assist.

The Colleton County School District Open House for the 2025-2026 school year was a huge success. The elementary school staff opened their doors to welcome back all of the smiling faces of the students. We are so excited for the start of school on Monday, August 4, 2025.

Francis Marion University has reached out to our Exceptional Learning Department with a graduate program called M.A.T. – Multi-Categorical Special Education program and the coursework is 100% online. If you know anyone who has a bachelor’s degree and would like to become certified to teach in special education, FMU can help! They can also share potential funding opportunities that could help those employees earn this degree at very little cost to them. This is a great opportunity to increase the special education teachers in Colleton County.

You simply need to complete the brief survey below or by scanning the QR code on the attached flyer. (it is only asking for your name, email and district of employment). The Administrative Coordinator, Jennifer Cason, will reach out to those who complete the link.
https://www.cognitoforms.com/SchoolOfEducationAtFMU/MATProgramInterestSurvey

If you have any additional questions, you may reach out to Dr. William Derden, Director of Exceptional Learning.

Our Curriculum & Instruction Department had the pleasure of working with our new teachers to help them prepare for the 25-26 school year. We are excited to welcome them to our Colleton Team!

District math teachers held a K-2 Math Professional Development in July. These educators have been working to prepare students for a productive school year.

The Walterboro Tennis Association is excited to announce plans for launching a Junior Tennis League for boys and girls in K5 through 5th grade during the upcoming school year! If you'd like your child to have the opportunity to receive tennis instruction from USTA-trained and SafePlay-approved coaches, please fill out the interest form at the link on the attached image as soon as possible:
Our goal:
Begin an organizational phase this fall to recruit and train volunteer coaches, host a few introductory clinics, and officially launch practices and matches in the spring.
Good news!
All practices and matches will take place locally at the Forest Hills Tennis Center on Ireland Hills Road in Walterboro. Local teams will play against other local teams—no travel required. The City of Walterboro, which owns and maintains the facility, has already approved this initiative.
Please note:
The structure of the program will ultimately depend on the level of interest we receive. If necessary, we may need to adjust the age range or format—so be sure to complete the form and share it with others to help ensure your child’s grade is included!
There is also a question on the form about volunteering or coaching. The more support we have, the more children we can include—so thank you in advance for your willingness to get involved!

Let’s rally together and build something special for our kids and our community!

Sincerely,
Walterboro Tennis Association

Michelle H. Strickland

Colleton County High School Band of Blue has been hard at work during band camp learning their show for the 2025 season called "The Pursuit of Happiness." These students and staff have been braving the summer heat to work together as a team to bring their show to life. Band is more than just playing a musical instrument. These students also incorporate marching into a show that is written for them to be memorized while playing the musical selection by memory. Colleton County School District is happy to offer our students a wide variety of extracurricular activities across the district including athletics, band, chorus, robotics and academics to name a few.

The Colleton County High School NJROTC welcomed the 2025-2026 incoming freshman students with a one-day camp to introduce them to the unit. The freshman had the opportunity to speak with the cadet staff in a small setting and answer any questions they had about the program. The cadet staff went over details of the different groups the NJROTC currently offered and provided mentorship for the upcoming school year. The groups currently being offered in the Colleton County NJROTC include Color Guard, Armed Platoon, Unarmed Platoon, Orienteering and Academic teams. The NJROTC unit is led by Chief Kenneth DeLee and PR1 Christopher Hutchens.

Colleton County School District Office of Buildings and Grounds has been working diligently to prepare all facilities for the start of the new school year. These are just a few faces behind the team of facilities and maintenance staff who handle the care of the buildings and grounds within our district.

Thunderbolt Career and Technology Center is proud to announce they have two students signing with Cat Think Big program: Aiden Schoulte and Ben Remley. TCTC is also proud to say Josh King is graduating from the Boeing Apprenticeship program this week as well.

Our middle school and high school math professional development took place this past week. Our teachers explored instructional strategies with our state Math Nation representative on Monday and analyzed content standards, process standard and indicators along with identifying characteristics of quality math tasks and formative assessments with our SCDOE High School Math Education Associate on Tuesday. They have been working in teams with curriculum planning to prepare for a successful school year.

We are so excited to host the All for Colleton Back to School bash at Colleton County High School on August 2nd from 9am -12pm. Genesis Healthcare will also be on site offering $10 sports physicals. Children must be present to receive supplies.

The following Colleton County School District leaders have earned special recognition for their participation in SCASA: Jessica F. Williams – Platinum, Janis Headden – Gold, Kesha Bryan – Gold and William Derden - Silver. SCASA stands for the South Carolina Association of School Administrators. It is a professional organization that represents and supports public education leaders in South Carolina. SCASA's mission is to advocate for and promote excellence in school leadership and public education across the state.

Lanasia Sanders is a 2025 graduate of Colleton County High School. She made history as being the first black female to win Region 6-AAAA Softball Player of the Year here in Colleton County. She, along with other softball athletes, were honored
by the Charleston RiverDogs as being one of the top softball players in South Carolina on Friday, June 27, 2025. Lanasia's accomplishments include North/State All-State Team, Region 6-AAAA Player of the Year, All Region Team 6-AAAA, All Lowcountry Team Selection, 2nd Place Region Finish and SC State Softball Signee. Lanasia was honored with a plaque at the July 15, 2025 school board meeting by Dr. Christopher Myers, Athletic Director.

Colleton County School District will host a back-to-school vaccine clinic on August 4th and August 12th. To schedule, you will need to call the phone number on the attached flyers. Your child may be eligible for no-cost vaccines, however there may be administration fees.

Attention all parents/guardians of rising 7th graders: there are only 3 weeks remaining until school resumes, meaning there are only 3 weeks left to get your child their mandatory tdap vaccine. According to SC law, your child is not allowed to attend school without up-to-date vaccines. Please contact your student’s physician or the local health department to get this resolved. Any questions or concerns can be emailed to CCMS Nurse Amanda Frank at afrank@colleton.k12.sc.us.

Junior, Nick Jones, attended The Citadel's football camp and won the punting specialist award. Nick is pictured here with The Citadel's Special Teams Coordinator, Tony Coaxum.

On June 11, 2025, more than 400 music education leaders and advocates convened in Washington, DC, to share the importance of music education with their federal legislators.

President Tom Finigan (Colleton County), Past- President Colleen Marcou (Irmo), President Elect Erik Hines (Sumter) along with collegiate NAFME members from the University of South Carolina, Patrick Reindl and Johnnie Cato represented the South Carolina Music Educators Association and were among the many voices from across the country advocating for music education during the annual National Association for Music Education (NAFME) Hill Day.

Running backs from the Colleton County Football Program recently had the opportunity to participate in a workout at Cougar Stadium facilitated by former Stratford High School, Penn State, and NFL running back Rodney Kinlaw.