Camden High School (Camden, South Carolina)

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For other schools with the same name, see Camden High School.

The campus of Camden High School.

Camden High School, located in Camden, South Carolina, is one of three high schools in the Kershaw County School District. It is the second largest high school, with around 1,036 students and is home of the Camden High School Bulldogs. In 2004, the district started its iCan laptop program, and since then every incoming freshmen has received an HP laptop to be used for their next four years at the school. That same year, the Freshmen Academy was created, giving freshmen partial interaction with the upperclassmen while still keeping them mostly to themselves. This program gives freshmen extra time to adjust to high-school life. The annual football game between Camden and Lugoff-Elgin is one of the most heated games of the season and usually means more to most students than going to the state championship. The current campus was built in 1992-1993 and replaced the aging buildings on Laurens Street, which have now become Camden Middle School.

1 Renovations and Additions
2 History
3 Academics
4 Athletics
5 The City
6 Notable alumni
7 External links

[edit] Renovations and Additions

During the 2007-2008 school year, Phase One of the Kershaw County School District's facilities improvement plan began on the CHS campus. The construction includes: a 185-space student parking lot in the front area of the school, additions and renovations to the cafeteria, a 350-seat performing arts center near the existing band room, a wellness center near the existing gym, lights and restrooms at the tennis courts, press boxes at the baseball and softball fields, an eight-lane track and storage building on a 30-acre tract of land across Ehrenclou Drive, and the bus drop off/pickup areas will be relocated to a covered walkway area near the commons area.

[edit] History

The first separate building designated "Camden High School" was established in 1903. The 11th grade was added in 1915 and the 12th grade in 1947. These early schools stood in the vicinity of Laurens and Lyttleton Streets. Past the first half of the century, white and black students were educated separately. Black students attended the Jackson schools, founded in 1867 on Campbell St. In their early years both school systems used remodeled homes or churches to house the high schools. In 1936, the first buildings built specifically to house the two high schools were constructed. Both were two story brick structures. In 1965 the schools desegregated under freedom of choice, and by the 1970-71 school year, a unitary school system was in operation. All high school students began to attend the enlarged CHS campus. Originally Camden High drew its students from the environs of the city of Camden. Throughout the years populations of several rural county schools were consolidated into Camden High School, including Charlotte Thompson, Antioch, and Midway Schools. Students from the Lugoff area across the river also attended Camden schools. The consolidation with the rural schools as well as Jackson High yielded a CHS population of over 2,000 for a time. The building of Lugoff-Elgin High and North Central High in other parts of the county eased overcrowding and attendance lines were redrawn.

[edit] Academics

Camden High offers a variety of academic routes, so every student can pick a course that best suits their future needs. Advanced Placement programs are offered along with Dual Enrollment at Central Carolina Technical College. The Journalism Department has three classes which produce the Palmetto Leaf school newspaper, the Gold and Black yearbook, and the Paw freshman newspaper.

[edit] Athletics

Camden High has a very good athletic program although most of the focus is on football. The games take place at Zemp Stadium in downtown Camden. The CHS Bulldog Football Team was most recently the South Carolina State Champions in 1990 and 2001. Camden High offers a variety of sports including Golf, Cross Country, Boy's and Girl's Basketball, Track, and Soccer. Also offered are Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, Cheerleading, and Boy's and Girl's Tennis.

[edit] The City

The original town of Camden was established in 1733, not far from the CHS campus, and is the county seat of Kershaw County. The diverse student population includes a large number whose parents and even grandparents attended the school as well as many transfer students who have been welcomed to the growing community.