Falcons,

The vision of Darlington High School is to engage students in a nurturing environment that prepares them to excel as college and/or career ready.  Empowering students to believe in themselves and their dreams and to build the skills they need to reach those goals takes a full village.  Our motto at DHS is “Together we rise!” and each person plays an important role in the success of all.  We welcome you to the 2024-2025 school year, and the role you fill as a part of the Falcon family.

Registration: As of today, 88% of our students have been registered for the upcoming school year.  Please remember any student that has not been enrolled before school starts will have their schedule dropped and will not be able to attend school until registration is completed.  All registration is done online by the legal guardian.  If you have not done so already, you need to complete registration immediately.  Please remember that students who were not enrolled by the June 28th cutoff date will not have bus transportation for the first 2 weeks of school.  If you missed that deadline, please be prepared to transport your student yourself until the bus office is able to add your student to the assigned routes. 

Proof of Residency: Many of our students were registered, but proof of residency was not uploaded.  These students may have a schedule for the first day of school, but will be sent home within the first couple of weeks of school and will be absent until proof of residency is submitted.  If you have not uploaded a bill in the legal guardian’s name at the address used for registration, please do one of the following:

• Upload it into the registration portal now.
• Email a copy of the proof of residency to tamekia.bruce@darlington.k12.sc.us
• Bring a hard copy to our open house on July 30, 2024 and submit it to the front office.
• Please make sure the student or students names are listed for the proof of residency submitted.

Open House: We will host an open house for new and returning students on July 30th.  You will have a chance to see your schedule, visit classrooms, and ask questions you have about DHS.  New students and families should join us in the gym at 5:30, and returning students should report to the cafeteria at 6PM. 

Student Arrival: Student drop-off takes place at the Smith Avenue entrance across from the post office for all car riders.  Students cannot exit cars for entrance to the cafeteria until 7:45. Student drivers must have all fees paid in full and a parking decal purchased by August 14, 2024 to continue to park on campus.  Students are only allowed to park in the lot between the main campus and academy campus.  The expectations for student parking are outlined on the application for a parking space, and is a privilege that will be removed if issues arise with discipline or attendance.  The parking request form can be picked up in the main office.  All students must report to school by 8:00am and report directly to the cafeteria if they want to eat breakfast.  At 7:45 we begin accepting students into the gym where all students go through our weapons detectors daily.  Students are dismissed from the gym to 1st period.  Students who are not on campus daily by 8:10 will struggle to get through the weapons detectors and to first period on time.  Please help us by ensuring your child is starting the day off right by being here by 8:10.

Dismissal: Parents are asked to park in an open parking lot space, not in the driveway areas on the Smith Avenue side for pick-up.  This process has helped with a quick dismissal and eliminated our carlines. Students who end their day at the Academy building are allowed to be picked up in front of the academy.  Dismissal begins at 3:30.  All carriders must be picked up by 3:45.  Again, you will find that we have no carline at DHS, so dismissal moves fast.

School Supplies: DHS has such a variety of classes that we do not have a school wide supply list.  Students should bring their charged district device (macbooks for upperclassmen, and ipads for rising 9th) each day along with paper, pens, pencils, and notebooks/binders.  Other supplies needed for a specific class will be shared by teachers during the first week of school.  New students and freshmen will get their macbooks as quickly as possible once school starts.

Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have about the start of the year.  You are an important part of our school community, and we look forward to working with you for the success of our young adults and the future of Darlington.

 

Together We Rise,

Cortney Gehrke, Principal