July 1, 2021

Dear Wildcat students and families,

I hope your summer has been amazing so far! Even though we have a few weeks left, I want to welcome you to the start of the 2021-2022 school year. Our summer staff has been working really hard to get everything ready for a great start to the year. I can’t wait to see all of our returning students and I’m looking forward to meeting our amazing new ninth-grade class and new Wildcats.

The 2020-2021 school year was a bit of a blur, with many changes and unexpected pivots as we navigated unprecedented events and challenges. Even though some parts of the year were scary and uncertain, our students and school community continued to focus on positives, like school pride, excellence in academics, athletics, and the arts, as well as service to others. Over 83 percent of our senior class qualified for life scholarships and as a class, they earned nearly $60 million in scholarships towards two or four-year colleges. Our students earned superior recognition and all-state honors in our performing and visual arts, and claimed several team and individual state titles in athletics.

Throughout it all, our students focused on protecting and supporting each other, best represented by the Unity Mural, painted by all of our student body to show that we are indeed stronger together. As you can tell, I am a super proud principal of our awesome student body, our faculty, staff, and all of the families that make LHS an amazing place!

As we enter the 2021-2022 school year, there is still uncertainty and there will be obstacles to face. More than ever, I am convinced that we have what it takes to face any challenge head-on, and come out stronger on the other side. As we have done over the past year and a half, we will take care of each other and take pride in being part of the 110 years of Wildcat excellence. I can’t wait to get started!

I will try to always keep you informed throughout the year through a variety of communication. I’m planning to start up my Backyard Briefs videos in the next couple of weeks, and of course, we are always excited to hear from you over the summer.

We will officially welcome in the new year on Wednesday, August 4 with our Cats Kickoff. Our campus will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. for tours, meet and greet stations, photo opportunities, Wildcat Spirit Store, club sign-up, and more. We will have help stations to complete Online Registration for those who need assistance or have questions. We hope to see a lot of you throughout the day! We will also have self-guided tour options throughout the summer to allow you to explore and learn more about our school. We will push out information about those tour options in the next few weeks.

Also on August 4, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., we invite all new students and incoming freshmen to our Wildcat Welcome for team building, orientation to high school, MacBook pick up, and lots of fun! Starting LHS is an exciting transition but can cause some nervousness. We want to set all of our students up for success and answer a lot of questions before the first day of school. No worries if you can’t make it - we will still make the transition easy for everyone. We have created a Wildcat Welcome website with useful tips, modules, and messages to help all of our new Wildcats get ready for the year. Check it out: https://tinyurl.com/WildcatWelcome2021. Your success is our goal!

We proved that our school is agile and adaptable to find ways to succeed despite unexpected challenges. As we come back to school, we will continue to rise to the challenge of meeting all of our students’ needs under all circumstances. We plan to use what we have learned to continue growing and improving.

We are thankful for all of our students and families. As we approach the school year, I promise to share updates and important information with you. Be sure to check our school website and follow us on social media for the latest news. I know 2021-2022 is going to be an amazing year.

At Lexington High School, we will continue to empower our students to design the future!

Hail to Thee!

Ryan Pool

Principal

Lexington High School

Summer 2021 Letter

Hello, This is Ryan Pool, principal at Lexington High School!

On behalf of the faculty and staff of Lexington High School, I would like to thank you for a fantastic school year. Despite the unusual circumstances we faced together throughout the year, our students, faculty, and community came together to find solutions and find success. I already miss the kids!  

We are ready to celebrate the Class of 2021 on Friday morning at Wildcat Stadium at 8 a.m. Gates open at 6:45 and a ticket is required to attend. We are so proud of the Class of 2021. We know you are going to be amazing on the next part of your journey.

Our office hours over the summer will be 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Our front office staff is available to help with any questions.  

For students returning to LHS, be sure to check your school email periodically throughout the summer for important messages about next year. Parents, we will send out information about online registration as soon as possible and we will work hard to make everything very easy for a good start to the 21-22 school year.

We hope all of our Wildcat students and families have a wonderful summer. We see amazing talents and potential in our kids everyday and can't wait to hear about their great summer adventures. Thanks for an great school year and we’ll see you soon. Be safe and be awesome everyday.

Go Wildcats!

Hello! This is Ryan Pool, Principal at Lexington High School, calling with a few important reminders.

Tomorrow, Friday, May 28, is the last school day for our graduating seniors.  For those of you who are still working to improve grades or make up missed assignments, please stay in touch with your teachers to make plans so that we can see you walk across the stage on June 11.  For those who have completed all of their course requirements, we are incredibly proud of you and can't wait to celebrate you at graduation.  You have truly made our school special this year and left a strong legacy for those who will come after you.  Thank you for being awesome.

Graduates and parents, we will continue to try to communicate graduation information through multiple formats so that you stay informed.  Everything we send out is also found on our school website.  Many of our seniors have opportunities to be honored at their elementary schools tomorrow morning or next week.  Students should have received the information they need through their email and through social media announcements.  Be sure to tag Lexington High School in your pictures from these events.

As in the fall, final exams this year will give underclassmen an opportunity to improve their overall grades, but will not negatively impact their final average.  We want our students to study and take advantage of this opportunity in all of their courses.  Our exam schedule will be available on our school website next week.  If you plan to sign out on exam days, we can not disrupt students in the middle of the block.  Students can be signed out between exam periods, but not during the instructional block.  Thank you for helping us preserve the testing environment for all students.

Remember that Monday is the Memorial Day holiday.  There is no school for students and our offices will be closed.  As we enjoy a wonderful warm long weekend, our faculty and staff want to thank all who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country to protect our freedoms.  We hope you all stay safe and have a wonderful break.  

We are ready to finish strong.  Thank you for all you do to make LHS a great place every day!  Go Wildcats!

Hello! This is Ryan Pool, principal at Lexington High School, checking in before an exciting weekend!

First, I want to thank all of our students and families for your patience and understanding as we navigated changes at school.  Our teachers and staff have tried this week to make quick adjustments based on new guidance, and I am very proud of their efforts.  This year has not always been the easiest to figure out, but I hope you all know that we want all of our students to be safe, comfortable, and successful every day.  Our students have modeled kindness and respect for each other this week, which makes me a very proud principal.

We celebrated St. Baldrick's Week all week long to support research in the fight against pediatric cancer.  Our student-led activities raised thousands of dollars and awareness across our student body.  Service became a focus for our students this week, and they did not get distracted from reaching their goals!

I want to wish our baseball and softball teams good luck this weekend as they begin their playoff run.  We have many track athletes looking to qualify for state this weekend.  Our boys' golf team has already won the Lower State title and they will compete for the state championship on Monday and Tuesday, and our boys' soccer team will be competing against Riverside High School tonight for the 5A state championship, held at the Irmo High School Stadium!  We have sold hundreds of tickets and it is going to be an exciting atmosphere.  If you still need a ticket, click this link.

As we close out the year, I hope you all see the amazing things our students can do when we come together.  We are going to finish strong!  

Our students and families continue to be great models for what it means to have school spirit, kindness, empathy, and a truly strong community.  Thank you Lexington High for always providing a great example for our state, especially during challenging times.  You are all appreciated and valued!

Help our School Counseling Department with your feedback: Parent Survey

Have a great weekend and GO WILDCATS!

This is Ryan Pool, principal at Lexington High School with a quick midweek update!

It's hard to believe but we are already approaching the midpoint of the 4th nine weeks. Our students need to be thinking about goals in each of their classes. Now is the time to double-check grades and reach out to teachers for help if needed.

 Our students have been great as we transitioned back to five days of instruction. We are remaining vigilant in our efforts to make sure all students feel safe every day at LHS. We still need students to follow our guidelines for face coverings and social distancing when possible so that everyone can stay healthy and stay in school.

 I want to thank our juniors and seniors for making our ticket sales process for the prom so smooth. I know they are going to have an amazing time. Hundreds of students have already signed our student-led Prom Promise, committing to safe and responsible decision-making on prom night, and we are very proud of all of you.

Parents, if you have not had a chance to complete our state department parent survey yet, please take a few minutes to let us know how we're doing. We see a lot of you have already participated, but we want everyone's voice to be heard. To complete the survey, click on this SURVEY LINK. Our school code is 3201003. Make sure the survey shows Lexington High School.

Congratulations to the amazing cast of Newsies. Our students performed last weekend receiving excellent reviews from everyone who attended. If you didn't get a chance to see the show, you can purchase the DVD at the school! Contact the main office for details!

May 3 is College Decision Day at LHS. For our seniors who have made college decisions, we will have photo opportunities set up. We want you to wear your college gear so we can help celebrate you as you start the next part of your journey.

Spring sports are wrapping up, so be sure to check our schedules and come out to see a regular-season matchup or a playoff game.

Congratulations to our Varsity Men’s Lacrosse team. They won the region and advanced to the lower state competition, going farther than any previous team in the history of our lacrosse program. We are so proud of their accomplishments!

Congratulations to Varsity softball that also won the region and will compete in the playoffs. We know they will go far!

As always, thanks to all of you for making Lexington High School a great place to be every day! Have a great week and Go Wildcats!

You should have received a phone call and message from Mary Beth Hill earlier today letting you know that all Lexington One schools will be shifting to e-learning tomorrow, Thursday, March 18, in anticipation of severe weather and the threat of tornadoes. This decision was made to help ensure student safety.

During Thursday’s e-learning day, our teachers will follow a virtual Friday schedule with zoom conferences available in the morning, and assignments and lessons available through Schoology and on each teacher's Week at a Glance document. Teachers are working to make these shifts this afternoon and will try to communicate expectations clearly for all of their students.

This document can help provide technical assistance while you are virtual. This document addresses how to get support for access (I forgot my password or I can't login), support for software (I need a certain app on my device) and hardware (my device is broken).

We are also canceling all meetings, and events scheduled at Lexington High School as well as athletic practices, rehearsals, or extra-curricular activities scheduled for the day or evening.

We still plan to have an e-learning day on Friday, March 19 and our regularly scheduled events including athletics and senior graduation supply pick up will still take place. If anything changes, we will let you know.

We have now completed two full weeks on the 4+1 learning model for our face-to-face students. We are happy to report that our amazing students have done an exceptional job with the shift. Our safety procedures have been consistently followed and we feel confident that they are working. I have enjoyed seeing all of the students together and talking to them about their experiences with the shift.

We wanted to remind everyone that Monday is a holiday for students and staff. Our building will be closed. Also, tomorrow, Friday, March 12, many of our LHS faculty and staff will be teleworking as part of our district's efforts to create opportunities to get to vaccination appointments. Students will still have normal Friday academic activities and access to their teachers, but if you need to speak to someone in the building, it will be better to come in next week. You can also leave us voicemails or send an email. Our website is a great place to find answers and contact information.

The spring is almost here! Remember to adjust your clocks this weekend. As we enter spring, we want all of our students to be successful every day so please take a few minutes to review the school dress code. We will go over the expectations during Empower as well.  We want every day to be great at LHS!

We are grateful to serve a wonderful community and our awesome students. Please make LHS a part of your spring by joining us for spring athletics, the arts, service opportunities, or just to get some exercise around our campus.  

Have a wonderful weekend. Stay safe, stay connected, and go Wildcats!

This is Ryan Pool, principal at Lexington High School!

All Lexington One schools will return to school January 4-8 virtually in order to provide the safest transition possible for our students and staff. 
Lexington High School students should plan to participate in their classes virtually according to the normal Monday through Thursday schedule, so zoom meetings with teachers and classmates will occur throughout the day as if they were on campus. Students are expected to report to all of their classes during our virtual week and will find information about expectations and zoom links through each teacher's Week at a Glance on Schoology.

The following week, January 11-15, we will return to our hybrid schedule for final exams and End of Course exams. Our exam schedule is posted on our website and included below.

Seniors are not required to take exams if passing the course, but may choose to take an exam in an attempt to raise their grade. If seniors are not taking an exam the week of January 11-15, they do not need to report to campus.

Exams for all students will only be included in the final course grade if the exam benefits the student. We want all of our underclassmen to study and prepare for all of their exams in order to get a final boost for their grades and GPA. End of Course exams are required by our state for all students in Algebra 1, Biology, English 2, and U.S. History.

LOOLA students and parents should follow instructions from each of their teachers regarding their exam procedures and schedules.

Enjoy the remaining days of your break! We can't wait to see you!
Happy New Year and Go Wildcats!

LHS Exam Schedule:
January 11 - Cohort A, Exam Blocks 2 and 4
January 12 - Cohort A, Exam Blocks 1 and 3
January 13 - Cohort B, Exam Blocks 2 and 4
January 14 - Cohort B, Exam Blocks 1 and 3
January 15 Makeup Exams

LHS VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE