Head of School's Welcome

Dear Prospective Families,

Thank you for visiting the Wilson Hall website, where you will find evidence that we live our mission—providing a rigorous and well-balanced education in a safe Judeo-Christian environment. While we boast excellent test scores (1154 SAT average for seniors, 1359 for the top 25%, and 1434 for the top 10%) and college scholarship awards ($5 million total for our most recent graduates), our Class of 2025 also achieved remarkable college admission results. Several graduates chose our two major, in-state universities—Clemson and the University of South Carolina—but also institutions like Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, the University of Southern California, Georgetown, the Savannah School of Art and Design, and Northwestern, among others.

Clemson received over 60,000 applications and had a first-year acceptance rate of 38%; Wilson Hall’s acceptance rate was significantly higher, with 68% of applicants earning full admission and 86% receiving one of the three admission pathways. At the University of South Carolina, with over 50,000 applications and a first-year acceptance rate of 60%, Wilson Hall’s seniors enjoyed a 73% full admission rate and an 80% offer rate across both available admission pathways. Our reputation for preparing students for college is well known.

Additionally, our graduates earned an impressive array of state scholarships: 6 students (12% of the class) received the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship, 32 were awarded the Life Scholarship, and 12 received the Hope Scholarship.

While these achievements are certainly commendable, our community of dedicated faculty members and families understands that some aspects of education—like character, compassion, and lifelong curiosity—are truly immeasurable.

How do we grade, for example, a student’s participation in our chapel program? But spiritual thinking—asking the big questions about life—is essential to a life well lived. Our founders knew that and expected that character education would be woven throughout the curriculum and extracurricular programming, and so it is to this day. Wilson Hall is designed to build diligence and integrity, our foundational values, in every member of its community, and that is the reason that when you come for a campus visit you will recognize a unique atmosphere, one where respect and hard work are the expectations, not the exception.

Wilson Hall is a place people want to be. As a class of 2000 graduate, I know the difference a Wilson Hall education makes in the lives of its students, which is why I moved back to Sumter after 22 years—I want my daughters to experience this place, a place, in the words of Virginia Woolf, that protects “the great Cathedral space” we call childhood.

Whether you love the arts, computer science, engineering, ceramics, music, history, or just a great conversation about the implications of The Great Gatsby for the 21st century, Wilson Hall has something for everyone. And our faculty—trained in the fields of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and education research—are prepared to meet students where they are and get them where they want to go.

We hope you will schedule a tour today!

Sincerely,
Brent C. Kaneft
Head of School
brentkaneft@wilsonhall.org