Flora Update

Monday, September 28- Saturday, October 4- Homecoming Week

Thursday, October 9- End of First Quarter/Early Dismissal 11:45 a.m./Parent Teacher Conferences

Friday, October 10- No School for Students/Teacher Workday

Richland One 25-26 Calendar

Upcoming college visits:

Monday, September 29: Coastal Carolina and Wofford College - Flight Time in guidance.

Wednesday, October 1: Claflin University (HBCU) - Flight Time in guidance, Both lunches in the Atrium.

Thursday, October 2: Winthrop University - Flight Time in guidance, Both lunches in the Atrium.

FAFSA Night Information:

Thank you to all of the parents that attended the Financial Aid information night on September 23. For those of you that could not attend, please see the presentation shared from the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation. Please fill out this form if you'd like sign up for a FAFSA help session. This form will close on Friday, October 3, at 3 p.m.

At this session, you and your student can receive assistance completing the FAFSA form. Tentatively that program will be on October 9th at 6 pm, however this is subject to change depending on the number of families that are in need of assistance.

Clemson PEER & WISE Program:

The Clemson PEER & WISE program is an opportunity designed specifically for high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors who want to experience what life is like as a Clemson Tiger. On Friday, October 17, Clemson invites students to join them on campus for a Sneak Preview!

This event is free and designed to help students get a true feel for the Clemson experience.

Click here for details.

Robertson Scholars Leadership Program:

The Robertson Scholars Leadership Program is a four year, full-tuition, room and board and summer stipend merit scholarship for students who attend Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (www.robertsonscholars.org). The application is now open to all students. Students must apply directly for the Robertson using the Robertson Application. There are two application deadlines: October 15 and November 15.

Please see this week's scholarship update.

Nineteen Flora students visited three elementary schools recently to deliver books donated by Chick-fil-A and read with children in their afterschool programs. They represented Flora well! See photos below.

The Falcon Battalion Cadets are back in uniform on Wednesdays and Thursdays of each week. Wearing uniforms creates a sense of unity, foster discipline, promote equality, and projects a professional image for any organization, but especially the military! JROTC cadets participate in this time-honored tradition and put their pride, honor, and dedication on full display. This routine showcases Cadets' dedication to the program.

The AC Flora Unified Falcons recently traveled to Myrtle Beach for the State Special Olympics Fall Games. The athletes and unified partners doubled up to compete with over 1,000 students around the state.

Congratulations to the following athletes and partners for placing in Unified Special Olympic Bowling:

Tyquail Goodman and Frances Smyth- 2nd Place

Aspen Mickens and Rory Taylor- 2nd Place

Kingston Mickens and Kameron Bagley- 1st Place

Amair Gibbs and Maddie Sterbini- 1st Place

Kage Yager and Lizzie Byrd- 1st Place

Noah Brooks and Helen Swain- 3rd place

Sam Crowley and Kaitlin Spangler- 1st Place

Jazayah Grimes and Meredeth Davis- 3rd Place

Kidist Crowley and Ellis Britt- 1st Place

This week, Ms. Mickey's IB Seniors constructed Ferris wheels out of Legos and explored the trigonometric concepts involved in Ferris wheel motion. See photos below.

The Zhuowei Yin Chapter of the National Honor Society at AC Flora High School will accept new members this fall, and emails have gone out to students who are academically eligible to be considered for membership. The academic criteria are the student must be a junior or senior (not already in NHS) with a GPA of 3.750 or higher. Applications must be filled out by the student and returned to Mr. Brown in room 203 or Miss Jacobs in room 355 no later than Wednesday, October 8, *NEW DUE DATE*. Late applications will not be considered. Students who are selected by the faculty committee for membership will participate in an induction ceremony on November 4, 2025, at 6pm in the AC Flora Auditorium.

Please click here to purchase your 25-26 yearbook for $85, the lowest price of the year.

Please use your personal email to send the following information to acfseniors26@gmail.com before Friday, November 21.

Please include the following information:

• Baby picture in format .jpg
• Two quotations: first and second choice. (The quotes will be first come first serve.) Your quotations must include the author’s name and be school appropriate.
• Your first and last name must be spelled how you want it to appear in the yearbook.

Any questions or requests regarding baby picture and quotes must be directed to acfseniors26@gmail.com. Any other platform of communication will not be accepted.

Falcon Fans…Pay One Price and enter every home game for every AC Flora sport ALL school year with an All-Sports Pass! Pay no platform or card fees! ACF & Crayton student passes are discounted. Go to www.GetFalconTickets.com to purchase.

Not only does a Booster Club All-Sports Pass purchase cover the entry fee for all home events for all sports, it’s also an investment in our student-athletes. Funds raised through pass sales go towards fully funding 3 Sports Awards Nights as well as other athletic projects that benefit the teams, athletes, trainers, and the Athletic Department. Proceeds from last year’s pass sales helped support the renovation of the weight room. ***All-Sports Passes cannot be used for playoff games or tournament games.

Join the AC Flora PTSO.

As members, AC Flora parents, friends and businesses contribute to the PTSO’s continued support of classroom grants to teachers, awards and recognition programs for students, speakers, facility improvements, teacher appreciation events, and special student festivities throughout the school year. AC Flora is stronger with the support of our families, friends, and business sponsors.

To join and support the PTSO’s ongoing efforts in the AC Flora community, please click on the following links:

Friends and Family

Business Partner

As a Business Partner, you can promote your business to the large AC Flora community throughout the whole school year. All donations are tax deductible.

Stay in the know about your student’s grade level.

For each grade level at Ac Flora, the PTSO hosts a GroupMe in which the PTSO’s grade representatives will post and circulate information about events and activities for that grade. To join your student’s grade level GroupMe, please send an email to the following addresses:

FRESHMEN: florafreshmen@gmail.com

SOPHOMORES: florasophomores@gmail.com

JUNIORS: florajuniors@gmail.com

SENIORS: floraseniors@gmail.com

Falcon’s Pride ($500 or more)

Martha and Josh McCain

Kenzie and Ryan Newton

Sarah and Harrison Penn

Falcon’s Flight ($250 or more)

Tiffany and Christopher Anderson

Missy and Tommy Boggs

Molley and Edward Clarkson

Allison and Shaun Cranford

Lindsay and Stephen Creech

Summer and Shawn Elliott

Kelly and Ryan Foster

Melissa and Ryan Gentry

David Hawkins

Sara Svedberg Homewood

Catherine and Jason Lockhart

Jennifer MacLeod

Cydney and Jonathan Milling

Rebecca and Bryan Norris

Courtney Parent

Sally and Marvin Robinson

Louisa and Preston Sabalis

Carmen Thomas

Benefactors ($100 or more)

Kelly and Jonathan Barbrey

Marni Bird

Talyse and Jason Burkett

Nicole and Erik Crook

Laura Curbo

Sarah and Alex Dillard

Jackie and Jay Edwards

Mundi and Michael George

Lauren and Will Gillespie

Susan Guy

Ashley and Scott Jaillette

Catherine and Shaun Kirchin

Kristen and Deonne Long

Andrea Maas

Marwan Marzagao

Kristy Moore

Kerri and Dale Ness

Adriane and Drew Radeker

Melissa Ray

Sara and Andrew Reed

Liza and Stephen Sansbury

Jamie and Oakley Smyth

Sheryl Wiskur

Kalen and Richard Kloskey

Rebecca and Bill Warren

Kristy Welshhans

Amy Scott

Sazy and Steven Johnson

Christy Slaughter

Ainsley Rhame

Emily and Strat Stavrou

Erica and Jon Ludovina

Kalenia and Antione Frederick

Paige Haas

Colleen and Reaves McLeod

Caroline Milliken

Evelyn and Darren Knight

Elizabeth and Shelton Haile

Amy Hill

Ashley and Joe Sitton

Marianna and Walt Cartin

Mandy and Dan D’Alberto

Misha and Mitch Goodwin

Carla Harkness

Laurel Frank-Dojaquez

Elizabeth and Derek O’Bradovich

Courtney and Shaun Blake

Michelle and Mark Thomas

Ashley Thomas

Meredith and Rob Robertson

Raven and Scott Gambrell

Laura and Chad Voyles

Elizabeth and Spann Laffitte

Kendall Adams

Mandy and Michael Wren

Lindsay and Jimmy McQueen

Michael Parent

Shawn and Patrick Toole

Stacey and Gary Meyer

2025-2026 PTSO BUSINESS PARTNERS

Falcon Gold

Lamplighter Insurance
lamplighterinsurance.com

Sumter Utilities, Inc.

sumter-utilities.com

Forest Acres Needlepoint
forestacresneedlepoint.com

Bryan Eye Clinic

bryaneyes.com

Brabham Griffin Insurance

brabhamgriffin.com

Falcon Silver

Border States
borderstates.com

H+J Cattle Co
handjcattle.com

HLJ Creative
hljcreative.com

Johnson & Lesley
johnsonandlesley.com

JHV Travel

Bookyourjollyholiday.com

L&N Produce
landnproduce.com

McKenzie & Lybrand
mckenzielybrand.com

Milliken Properties
millikenproperties.com

Milling Law Firm
millinglaw.net

Palmetto Insurance Group

palmettoinsurancegroup.com

Peace of Mind
sodacitypeaceofmind.com

Process Hair Salon
processhairsalon.com

Synovus
www.synovus.com

Falcon Bronze

Brandon Davidson Interiors

brandondavidsoninteriors.com

Camp, Moring & Brendle, LLC

cmccpas.net

Ned Lipscomb Auto Sales

Ned Lipscomb Stump Grinding

Richardson Thomas

richardsonthomas.com

South State Bank

southstatebank.com

Speedy Tanner & Atkinson
staclaw.com

Tazikis
tazikis.com/location/columbia

Thomas Law Firm

markthomaslawfirm.com

Falcon Friend

Cottage and Vine

shopcottageandvine.com

Email: jennifer.collins@richlandone.org
Website: https://www.richlandone.org/Domain/45
Location: 1 Falcon Drive, Columbia, SC, USA
Phone: 803-738-7300
Instagram: @acflorahigh