COASTAL OBSERVER

Beverly Thompson, a Pleasant Hill High graduate, has taught at Waccamaw Elementary School for 39 of its 50 years.

Returning as a third grade teacher for the 10th year, Thompson reflected on how the school has changed since its opening in 1976 as students across Georgetown County begin the 2026-27 school year on Monday morning.

She’s watched chalkboards become Promethean boards, cassette tape players become radios and books become Chromebooks over the years.

Thompson’s students are what brings her back year after year. She doesn’t plan on retiring anytime soon, she added.

“It’s just my calling,” Thompson said. “I love it. I love the learning and the kids and seeing how they grow.”

Thompson couldn’t estimate how many students she had taught over 39 years.

“But every now and then they’ll come back and visit,” she said. “They’ve changed so much from third grade.”

But the students aren’t the only ones who have changed at Waccamaw Elementary.

Thompson said she has learned to be more confident in her teaching with technology along with the importance of collaboration with fellow teachers.

“I’ve learned so much,” she said. “I feel like I’m growing and I’m helping the students grow.”

It’s the Golden Year for Waccamaw Elementary which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this school year.

Superintendent William Young and members of the Georgetown County School Board broke ground for the school Oct. 2, 1975. It opened in August of 1976 and originally enrolled children in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Until 1990, it was known simply as the Waccamaw School. Students went to Georgetown or Socastee for high school.

The school now serves students in kindergarten through third grade.

Waccamaw High School opened in 1990, taking the seventh and eighth grades and making Waccamaw Elementary a true elementary school. Waccamaw Middle opened in 2001. Waccamaw Intermediate opened in 2008, taking the fourth and fifth grades from the elementary school.

Ashley Cameron, who has been principal at Waccamaw Elementary for 10 years, will celebrate her 22nd year in education in Georgetown County.

“It’s so wild. I’m excited about that,” she said.

Cameron said she has seen the school go through major changes, too. 

She recalled when the school had computer labs and about a dozen mobile classrooms outside of the school because the class sizes were so large.

“There was no room in the building,” Cameron said.

Change brought wing expansions, playground additions, a new media center and a baseball field to Waccamaw Elementary over the years.

“You can see where lockers and things have been pulled out of different places,” Cameron said.

The elementary school has hired new staff, she said. Some returning staff members who were married during the summer are coming in with new names and signs, too, Cameron added.

“That’s always fun for us because we always refer to ourselves as family, not really faculty and staff,” she said.