Camden High School is located in Camden, South Carolina, United States, and is one of three high schools in the Kershaw County School District. It is the second largest high school and has approximately 980 students. It is home of the Camden Bulldogs.
In 2004, the district started its iCan laptop program. Since then, every incoming freshmen has received a computing device to be used for their next four years at the school.
Campus
In 1992-93, Camden High moved from Laurens Street, which became Camden Middle School, to its present location on Ehrenclou Drive. The main building and two-story building house classrooms, the Media Center, and a Lecture Hall. There is a gymnasium and a mini-gym located at the back of the campus.
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 included a 185-space student parking lot in the front area of the school, additions and renovations to the cafeteria, a 400-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 (120,000Â m2) 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.
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 Street. 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, 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.
Academics
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. The school offers language courses in Spanish and French.
Athletics
The athletic program consists of 27 teams with over 300 student-athletes. The teams include football, golf, cross country, boys' and girls' basketball, track, and soccer. Also offered are baseball, softball, volleyball, cheerleading, wrestling and boys' and girls' tennis. The newest addition to extra-curricular activities is a dance team. Zemp Stadium has been the home of Camden High School football since 1929, making it the oldest high school football stadium still in use in South Carolina. Two state championships have been played at the stadium, in 1936 and 1957, which Camden won both.
SC State Championships:
- 1990 AAA Football
- 2001 AAA Football
- 2009 AAA Boys' Basketball
Notable alumni
- Bobby Engram, former professional American football player
- Vonnie Holliday, former professional American football player
- Michael Kohn, professional baseball player
- Shawn Elliott, head football coach for Georgia State
- Lois Rhame West (1939), former First Lady of South Carolina (1971-1975), first woman to chair the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
References
External links
- Camden High School homepage
- Camden High School Fan athletic site