At a recent board meeting, AR Ammons Poetry Winners were honored: Division I First Place Isabella Holmes Old Dock Elementary School Division I Honorable Mention Ainsley Ward Old Dock Elementary School Division I Honorable Mention Kera Starnes Old Dock Elementary School Division I Honorable Mention Coleman Smart West Columbus School Division I Honorable Mention Lane Tompkins Tabor City School Division I Honorable Mention Adelina Beck Old Dock Elementary Division I Honorable Mention Lisbeth Lemus Old Dock Elementary Division I Honorable Mention Mia Strickland Old Dock Elementary Division I Honorable Mention Kinleigh Butler Old Dock Elementary Division I Honorable Mention Ellorie Ward Old Dock Elementary Division I Second Place Camille Canady Old Dock Elementary School Division I Third Place Colton McKeithan Old Dock Elementary School Division II First Place Anna Marie Bell Hallsboro / Artesia Elementary Division II Honorable Mention Julie Ward Nakina Middle School Division II Honorable Mention Henlee Ward Tabor City School Division II Honorable Mention Brystal Ward Old Dock Elementary Division II Honorable Mention Liam Dyson West Columbus School Division III Honorable Mention Morgan Smith Nakina Middle School Division III Honorable Mention Deacon Whaley Nakina Middle School Division III Honorable Mention Annabelle Wright Nakina Middle School Division III Honorable Mention Elizabeth Valdez Nakina Middle School Division III Honorable Mention Laney McPherson Nakina Middle School Division III Honorable Mention Khadijah Currie East Columbus JR/SR High Division III Third Place Isabella Rivero Nakina Middle School Division IV First Place Landyn Norris South Columbus High Division IV Honorable Mention LilyAnne Long Columbus Career and College Academy Division IV Honorable Mention Tanijia Gerald Columbus Career and College Academy Division IV Honorable Mention Mckenna Ware-Rudnik East Columbus JR/SR High Division IV Honorable Mention Hailey Long South Columbus High Division IV Honorable Mention Melody Gilbert Columbus Career and College Academy Division IV Honorable Mention Cynthia Ward West Columbus High Division IV Honorable Mention Stephen Tatman, Jr. South Columbus High Division IV Honorable Mention Landon Hoopes Columbus Career and College Academy Division IV Honorable Mention Mika Williams South Columbus High Division IV Honorable Mention Morgan Cartrette South Columbus High Division IV Honorable Mention Mckenna Ware-Rudnik East Columbus JR/SR High Division IV Honorable Mention Jennifer Perez South Columbus High Division IV Second Place Aisha Skye Reyes South Columbus High Division IV Third Place Landyn Norris South Columbus High

At a recent Board meeting, the Celebrate the Arts Gold Key winners were recognized for having the best artwork in the show. These students demonstrated remarkable creativity and artistic excellence, rising to the top among hundreds of entries. The Board commended them for their talent, hard work, and outstanding representation of the arts in Columbus County Schools. ECJSHS Mckenna Ware-Rudnik ECJSHS Brittany Mitchell ECJSHS Milana Graham ECJSHS Sophia Robertson SCHS Greidys Avelino SCHS Madison McMillian SCHS India Sammons SCHS Samuel Cunningham SCHS Alan Rodriguez SCHS Drake Cribb SCHS Lily Greene SCHS Lena Taylor WCHS Samantha Strickland WCHS Zayda Eddie WCHS Brianna Thomas WCHS Lia Specht WCHS Karmen McDuffie WCHS Ricky Johnson WCHS Lindsey Hayes WCHS Ivan Osorio-Abonza ADES Dulce Gonzalez Gonzalez ADES Dulce Gonzalez Gonzalez ADES Vanessa Jauregui-Del Angel ADES Morgan Pridgen ECJSHS Sophia Alvarado Rivera ECJSHS Yamileth Gonzalez-Baza ECJSHS Luziana Cruz Perez HAES Cara Britt HAES Anthony Gurganious HAES Dondria Sadler HAES Mya Jacobs HAES Cole Lynch NMS Javier Diaz NMS Sara Rivenbark NMS Ellie Wright NMS Sandy Nunez NMS Bridgette Perdomo TCS Devora Redondo TCS Andrea Powell TCS Kimberly Manning TCS Loren Hinson TCS Mileigh Stevenson WCS Arabella Tchorz WCS Ella Fletcher WCS Kaylee Bethea-Davis WCS Kenzie Martin WCS Chantal Judd WTS Kalie Blanton WTS Julia Bailey WTS Joanna Cox WTS Aria Bowen WTS Johnny Dominguez WTS Johnny Domingues WTS Legend McCray

Good Evening Mustangs, We will have our 8th Grade Continuation Celebration at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. 8th grade students should be at school by 8:00 a.m. and dress in appropriate attire for this dignified event. Jeans, shorts, sweatpants etc. t-shirts, etc. are not allowed. Dresses should be longer than 4 inches above the knee, not skin tight, and no spaghetti straps or backless dresses. Students must return their chromebooks to their homeroom teacher and pay any outstanding fees before leaving for the summer. Car students will dismiss early at 12:40 p.m. and bus students at 12:45 p.m. We appreciate your support and Mustang Pride!

Schools will release students at approximately 1 PM on Friday, June 6th. Have a great summer!

Good Evening Mustangs, Please be reminded that Math EOG retesting will take place tomorrow morning. We will have our 5th-7th Grade Awards at 1:00 p.m. in the gym and look forward to celebrating our students' achievements. Students also received their yearbooks today during a signing party. Students that were not present today can stop by the office to pick up their yearbook. We have a few extra yearbooks left for $45. Thank you and we appreciate your support!

Bus 206 is running behind this morning by about 30 minutes.

Good Evening Mustangs, This is Shelly Cullipher, Principal of Nakina Middle School and we hope you had a wonderful weekend. We have a very busy week ahead and would like to share a few important events and reminders as we prepare to finish the final week of the 2024-2025 school year Mustang Strong! Monday, June 2nd: -Remediation for students that need to retake the ELA/Math EOG followed by Field Day. -Yearbook distribution and signing party at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, June 3rd: -Remediation for students that need to retake the ELA/Math EOG. -Athletic Banquet at 6:00 p.m. in the gym. Wednesday, June 4th: -ELA EOG Retest -Math EOG remediation Thursday, June 5th: -Math EOG Retest -5th-7th Grade Awards Program at 1:30 p.m. in the gym Friday, June 6th: -Last Day of School (Report Cards Go Home) -8th Grade Continuation Program at 9:00 a.m. in the gym. -Early Dismissal (We share buses with ODES so our car students will dismiss at 12:40 and our bus students will dismiss at 12:45.) Thank you for being part of our Mustang family and supporting our students and community!

Good Evening, We are so proud of our Mustangs for their patience and flexibility as a result of the brief break in testing yesterday due to the NC Testing System. We are also proud our our students for being on time and present for the assessments. Students will receive a letter with their Reading and Math results. The 5th and 8th grade Science scores will not be available until the fall due to a new state test this year. We are fortunate that students have the opportunity to remediate and retest before the last of day school. Students that were not proficient in Reading will remediate on May 30th, June 2nd, & June 3rd and retest on June 4th. Students that were not proficient in Math will remediate May 30th, June 2nd, June 3rd, & June 4th and retest on June 5th. We appreciate your support as we help our students continue to grow and master these fundamental skills. Thank you again,

Today, a system error temporarily disrupted the NCTest platform statewide, affecting all students in North Carolina who were scheduled to test this morning. The outage lasted approximately 40 minutes. Prompt corrective action restored the system, allowing students to resume testing shortly thereafter. All tests were completed successfully. We sincerely thank our teachers and students for their patience, focus, and resilience during the disruption. At this time, we anticipate no further issues.

Reminder: All schools will be closed on Monday, May 26th, in honor of Memorial Day.

Good Evening Mustangs, As we begin the End of Grade Assessments please remember to get plenty of rest, be on time, and bring a charged Chromebook. Most importantly, do your best and know that we are proud of each of you! Friday, May 23rd: 5th & 8th Grade Science Wednesday, May 28th: 5th-8th Grade ELA Thursday, May 29th: 5th-8th Grade Math 💛🖤

Please join us this evening at 7:00 p.m. for our Spring Chorus Concert.

Good Evening Mustangs, We hope you had a wonderful weekend! Please click the following link to view our Mustang Roundup with events and reminders for this week: https://tinyurl.com/5n722ca4 Let's make this a great week! Shelly F. Cullipher

Happening Today! 10am-1pm.

Federal law provides services for Exceptional Children who are parentally placed in private schools or homeschools. The Columbus County School system is in the process of contacting administrators of private schools to determine what services might be appropriately provided. If your private school is no longer operational, please notify our office. If you feel that a child might be disabled, and an evaluation is necessary, or if a child has already been classified as disabled and you would like services for that child, please plan to attend a meeting at the Columbus County Schools Board of Education, 2586 James B. White Hwy North, Building A, Whiteville, NC 28472 on May 27th, 2025 at 5:00pm to discuss services for 2025-2026 school year. If unable to attend, please contact Melanie McCready at 910-642-5168 ext. 24016 to discuss services.

A message from the Columbus County Health Department: School is almost out and our summer schedule is filling up quickly!!! Our dental team is excited to assist you with scheduling your child's summer break dental exams and cleanings. Please contact our office at (910) 640- 6615, ext. 7041 to schedule your child's appointment. We wish all students a happy and healthy summer break. Hope to see your smile soon!

Federal law provides services for Exceptional Children who are parentally placed in private schools or homeschools. The Columbus County School system is in the process of contacting administrators of private schools to determine what services might be appropriately provided. If your private school is no longer operational, please notify our office. If you feel that a child might be disabled, and an evaluation is necessary, or if a child has already been classified as disabled and you would like services for that child, please plan to attend a meeting at the Columbus County Schools Board of Education, 2586 James B. White Hwy North, Building A, Whiteville, NC 28472 on May 27th, 2025 at 5:00pm to discuss services for 2025-2026 school year. If unable to attend, please contact Melanie McCready at 910-642-5168 ext. 24016 to discuss services.

MarineQuest Summer Camp – July 28 to August 1 Students from Tabor City School, Williams Township, and Nakina Middle School are invited to apply for a FREE summer camp experience hosted by MarineQuest at UNCW! This amazing opportunity is made possible by a grant from the Jimmy Woodard Garrell Foundation. Who can attend? Current 5th, 6th, or 7th grade students Transportation will be provided. Dates: July 28 – August 1 Location: MarineQuest (details will be provided to selected students) Please note: Space is limited. If we receive more applicants than available slots, student growth scores and question responses will be used to determine the recipients. This is a great opportunity to explore marine science, participate in hands-on learning, and enjoy an exciting educational summer experience. Fill out an interest form today! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeD7jeJGMmlxRN4Sk_TQZg6wP2uD0nChsmntgqeD_JdClaerg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=115928361118763748429

CCS Education Job Fair - Saturday, May 17, 2025 Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Location: CCS Central Services, 2586 James B. White Hwy N, Whiteville Join us for the CCS Education Job Fair, a dedicated hiring event focused on filling a variety of roles within Columbus County Schools. Call 910-642-5168 for info.

CCS Education Job Fair Date: Saturday, May 17, 2025 Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Location: CCS Central Services, 2586 James B. White Hwy N, Whiteville, NC (beside Northwood Church) Join us for the CCS Education Job Fair, a dedicated hiring event focused on filling a variety of roles within Columbus County Schools. This is your chance to meet face-to-face with school and district leaders who are actively seeking passionate educators and support staff for the 2025–2026 school year.