The 2016-17 school year was another tremendous success for graduating seniors of Aiken County Public Schools. In total, one thousand four hundred and six graduates received state diplomas during graduation ceremonies held Thursday, June 1, 2017, and Friday, June 2, 2017, at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.
These students also received, through state lottery monies and other awards, a grand total of $59,676,930 in academic scholarship funding.
Additionally, the District recognized 40 percent of the District’s 1,406 graduates, or 562 students, as honor graduates. South Carolina high school honor graduate diplomas are awarded based upon completion of one of the two requirement criteria listed below:
- Students must complete twenty-four units of high school credit (18 units must be college preparatory coursework), meet the standard on all subtests of the Exit Examination, receive a minimum grade of “B” for each semester course in grades 9 - 12 through the seventh semester, and achieve either a score of 710 or higher on the SAT verbal exam, a score of 690 or higher on the SAT mathematics exam, a score of 30 or higher on the ACT English assessment, or a score of 33 or higher on the ACT mathematics assessment.
- Students must complete twenty-four units of high school credit (18 units must be college preparatory coursework), be eligible for graduation with a state high school diploma, and have a combined score of 1400 on the SAT verbal and math sections, or an ACT composite score of 31.
“Our mission is to cultivate future-ready students who will provide an immediate and lasting impact as productive citizens in our local community and across the world,” commented Aiken County Superintendent Dr. Sean Alford. “We want to congratulate our graduates of the Class of 2017 on a job well done and wish them well in their planned post-secondary pathways.”
Many of Aiken County’s graduates plan to attend Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, and other in-state colleges and universities, including The Citadel, College of Charleston, Furman, Presbyterian, Winthrop, Wofford, South Carolina State and Claflin. Others will enter the workforce, join the military or continue their education at institutions of higher learning across the nation, including the University of Tennessee, Rice University, the University of Alabama, Morehouse University, Southern Wesleyan University, Wingate University, and Johnson and Wales University.
Aiken High School celebrated a Class of 2017 that numbered 305 graduates – the largest graduating class from a single school in the district for the 2016-17 school year – and featured a Wendy’s High School Heisman winner, a National Merit Finalist, a Presidential Scholar and 21 Palmetto Fellows who earned a combined total of $16,118,262 in academic awards. Aiken High had 104 honor graduates.
The Class of 2017 at Midland Valley High School numbered 268 graduates, and produced a collective academic scholarship award of $11,722,006, the highest scholarship total for the school in the last four years. Midland Valley High had 90 honor graduates.
At North Augusta High School, an amazing ninety-one percent of the 278 graduates from the Class of 2017 said they planned to attend either a two-year or four-year college or university following graduation. Jackets seniors received $8,130,236 in scholarship monies, and received six of 12 annual scholarships awarded locally to Aiken County students by the North Augusta Sertoma Club. North Augusta High had 141 honor graduates, accounting for 51 percent of its graduating class.
Ridge Spring-Monetta High School and the graduating Class of 2017, which numbered 45 seniors and featured the District’s top CATE (Career & Technology Education) graduate, continued an upward trend in the number of academic scholarship dollars received yet again with a total of $1,174,939 in funding. Ridge Spring-Monetta High had seven honor graduates.
Graduates from the Class of 2017 at Silver Bluff High School, which numbered 149 seniors, posted the District’s largest gain in scholarship dollars from 2016, with an increase of $1,563,512 for a total of $6,563,512. Silver Bluff High had 47 honor graduates.
South Aiken High School and the graduating Class of 2017 featured a National Merit Finalist among its 301 senior students, and a collective academic scholarship award of $13,822,515. South Aiken High had 154 honor graduates, accounting for 51 percent of its graduating class.
With fifty-five seniors, the number of graduates from Wagener-Salley High School was smaller for the Class of 2017 than in recent years, but those students performed well. The WSHS class more than doubled 2016 scholarship award totals ($761,700) with an increase of $1,246,240 for a total of $2,007,940 for the War Eagles’ Class of 2017. Wagener-Salley High had 19 honor graduates.
“We had two Palmetto Fellows this year among a good group of very strong students and I am very proud of them,” stated Wagener-Salley High School Principal Ute Aadland.
Aiken County Public Schools congratulates the Class of 2017 on its many achievements and offers best wishes for continued success!
LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2017 PR CLASS OF 2017 SCHOLARSHIPS