At the heart of Wilson Hall is its focus on the development of a student’s academic and intellectual capabilities to his or her potential.
The success of this goal has been based on maintaining a challenging curriculum and a professional faculty in a supportive, family-like atmosphere.
Wilson Hall is a small school by design, giving teachers and students the opportunity to get to know one another on a more personal level. This allows teachers to identify and react to the strengths of each student.
Wilson Hall students pursue serious studies in a curriculum designed to challenge each student, which is why applicants must meet certain academic standards before being admitted. With a traditional curriculum, emphasis is placed on reading and English language skills, mathematics, science and social studies, with technology, foreign languages, and fine/performing arts rounding out the educational experience.
Since seniors must be accepted to a four-year college or university in order to graduate, it is not a question of whether they are going to college, but where they are going to college.
The average SAT for the graduating class is approximately 200 points or higher than the national SAT average. And showing that Wilson Hall is a solid investment in the education of its students, nearly every graduate receives a merit-based scholarship offer for college.
The exceptional academic achievements of Wilson Hall students and alumni speak for themselves and clearly demonstrate why the school has been one of the top college preparatory institutions in South Carolina for four decades.
A student’s first experience of school is extremely important, and Wilson Hall strives to make this experience an enjoyable one in its preschool/kindergarten program. Students in preschool, which is for students who turn four years old by September 1st, learn mostly through play while also learning how to be part of a group and follow directions. Preschool is much more than a daycare program, it teaches students essential social skills while introducing basic math and reading concepts.
Kindergarten, which is very structured, introduces basic number concepts and letter recognition, as well as simple reading and writing techniques. Many of the kindergarten students are reading and writing simple sentences by the end of the first semester. Art, music, physical education, computer science and the library are also part of the curriculum for the preschool and kindergarten.
The school day for preschool/kindergarten, which is a five-day a week program, is 8:10 AM – 1:55 PM, with an optional noon dismissal. Preschool/kindergarten classes are self-contained and each teacher has a full-time assistant in the classroom with her. With their own corner of the campus, the preschool/kindergarten students remain in their own building and have their own playgrounds.
In order to provide a strong foundation, grades 1-5 concentrate heavily on the basics: reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, language arts, grammar, and mathematics. Social studies and science, while taught in first and second grades informally, becomes an academic subject beginning in the third grade.
Students are not grouped by academic potential since all students are expected to perform at an advanced level. The accelerated curriculum is taught at a quick pace, similar to the talented and gifted programs of other schools, and students are expected to progress as a group. By not having several different groupings by ability within a classroom, teachers are able to give all of their attention to the entire class.
Lower school classes are self-contained, except for the fifth grade that has three teachers who specialize in particular academic areas, and lower school students have their own building and playground. Students attend auxiliary classes once a week for computer science, music, art, P.E. and library, and they have Spanish once a week. The school day for grades 1-5 is from 8:10 AM – 2:10 PM.
