Homecoming 2022

UPDATE, 9/29: 

Heathwood will be closed on Friday, September 30, 2022. Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking our students and employees to stay home due to the likelihood that Hurricane Ian will bring severe weather to campus. To clarify, the campus is closed to all people (except essential emergency workers), and all school activities are suspended tomorrow.
According to nearly every meteorological prediction, Hurricane Ian will pass over the Midlands on Friday, bringing strong winds and heavy rains. Such conditions make campus difficult to access for carpoolers and buses and increase the chances of disruptive and potentially dangerous events, including power loss (food service, sprinklers, toilets, and communication technology), flooding, facilities damage, and others.

Thank you for your understanding and support. We understand that closing school is inconvenient for our families and students. Please know this decision is never easy. We make the best judgment possible based on the information that we have at the time.

UPDATE, 09/27:

• On Thursday, September 29th, the Heathwood Hall vs. Laurence Manning Academy Homecoming Football Game Has Been Moved to 4:00 p.m.
• All Heathwood Students Will Be Dismissed from School at 2:05 p.m.

This morning, we learned that the UofSC moved its home football game against SC State to Thursday (9/29) at 7:00 p.m. Customarily before and after a UofSC game, the traffic on Bluff Road is changed to a unidirectional flow, making Heathwood’s campus more difficult to access. Accordingly, we have adjusted Thursday’s schedule for Homecoming and dismissal in an effort to reduce some of the overlap with the challenging logistics of the UofSC football game. We suggest that you plan to arrive on campus between 3:15 and 3:45 p.m to attend the Heathwood game.

IMPORTANT

All Heathwood students will be dismissed at 2:05 p.m on Thursday. Upper School students will be permitted to stay on campus from 2:05 - 4:00  p.m. without parental supervision. All other Heathwood students (MS, LS & EC) are required to have parental supervision in order to remain on campus prior to the game.

Please do not arrive for carpool pick-up prior to 1:35 p.m. Once arriving at campus, you will be held in a carpool queue that will not begin feeding cars to the pick-up areas until 1:45 p.m. when the parade concludes.  EC/LS & MS carpool will begin dismissing children at 2:05 p.m., and Upper School students will be dismissed immediately following the conclusion of the parade. I want to thank you in advance for your patience during a dismissal process that will likely experience delays.

THURSDAY SCHEDULE (9/29)

1:30 p.m.   Spirit Week Parade. No Pep Rally.

2:05 p.m.   Full school dismissal. Buses will run at this time. No afternoon activities, practices, or rehearsals. No Afternoon Express. No Thought Studio.

3:00 p.m.   Game attendees may begin arriving on campus. Please, no earlier.

4:00 p.m.   Homecoming Football Game against Laurence Manning Academy.

5:00 p.m.*  Halftime. Homecoming Court will be announced.

6:30 p.m.*  Football game concludes.

*Approximately

POSTPONED

The Alumni Beer and Cheer and Pep Rally have been rescheduled for October 28th before the Varsity Football Game against Hammond School.

IMPORTANT SCHEDULE NOTES

• No afternoon activities - with the exception of the Varsity Football Game at 4:00 p.m. - will be held on Thursday afternoon, including sports practices, rehearsals, and Afternoon Express/Thought Studio.
• Middle School, Lower School, and Early Childhood students must leave campus at 2:05 p.m. dismissal unless they are supervised on campus by a parent or guardian. Otherwise, these students can return to campus to watch the game after 3:00 p.m. with parental supervision.
• Upper School students and faculty who are planning to attend the game may stay on campus. They must move their cars from the Athletic parking lots before 3:00 p.m.
• Between 2:05 and 3:00 p.m. in order to efficiently manage campus traffic during dismissal, game attendees are asked to delay their arrival to campus. Fans should arrive on campus only after 3:00 p.m.
• All employees and staff who are not essential to the management of the home football game are welcome to leave campus between 2:05 and 3:00 p.m.

We genuinely appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we respond to the situation that Hurricane Ian is causing. Although much of Homecoming is postponed until our next home game on Friday, October 28th, we will be playing Hammond and hosting Senior Night then, so it should be great fun. The Pep Rally, Family BBQ, and Alumni Beer and Cheer will make the rivalry game even more electric, and we look forward to celebrating these events with you. Please stay safe this weekend.

Next week, Sept. 26 - 30, is Homecoming and Spirit Week. Get ready for fun events for students, families, and alumni. Here's everything you need to know!

Spirit Week Themes

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

• Monday - Seasons (Choose Your Favorite)
• Tuesday - Tie Dye Tuesday
• Wednesday - Wacky Wednesday
• Thursday - Spirit Day for Early Childhood, Lower, and Middle School; Class Specific Themes for Upper School:
  • Seniors - Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Junior - Top Gun
  • Sophomores - Jumanji
  • Freshman - Marvel Superheroes
• Friday - Bikers vs Surfers

Generations Breakfast

Wednesday, September 28th | Dining Commons | 7:15 a.m.

Legacy families will gather for breakfast with their children to celebrate generations of Heathwood Highlanders. 

Homecoming Parade

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH

Parent Refreshment Tent - Across from the Nord Middle School Building | 1:00 p.m.

Parents are invited to stop by the Parent Refreshment Tent sponsored by the HPA. The tent will be set up between the Track and the Nord MS Building on the opposite side of the road from the edible forest. Parents can mingle and sip while waiting for the parade.

Upper School Parade - Campus Center | 1:45 p.m.

Each year, the Upper School marches in cohorts of graduating classes. The parade starts at the Campus Center, passes the Nord Middle School, and ends at the tennis courts. Parents are encouraged to line the parade route by standing on the road opposite of the Nord Middle School building. Everyone must be parked and in place by 1:30 p.m.! The roads on campus will be closed from then until the parade is over.

Pep Rally - Postponed to October 28, 2022

Parade Parking

Please park in the Campus Center lot to avoid being caught in the parade route traffic. Additional parking is available in the PEAK Adventure Base Camp lot. Be parked by 1:30 p.m.

Game Day!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH

Family BBQ - Postponed to October 28, 2022

Details about registration and refunds for the original event will be available soon.

Alumni Beer and Cheer - Postponed to October 28, 2022

Details about registration and refunds for the original event will be available soon.

Buy Alumni Beer and Cheer Tickets

Game and Halftime Festivities - Highlander Stadium | 4:00

The Heathwood Highlanders play the Laurence Manning Swampcats, and the Homecoming Court and Queen are presented at half-time. Tickets for the game must be purchased online through the GoFan Website. Cade Crenshaw, our play-by-play announcer,  will begin a live broadcast of the game on Heathwood's YouTube Channel starting at 3:50 p.m..

Current Heathwood students, faculty, and Highlander Athletic Booster Club (HABC) members are admitted to games for free with a Heathwood Hall ID or HABC membership card. All others must purchase tickets online in advance.

Buy Tickets     Join HABC

Game Night Parking

The Senior (asphalt lot adjacent to Athletic Center) and Junior (gravel adjacent to baseball field) lots are reserved for Super Blue, Blue and Green HABC members only and handicap parking. HABC Members must have their parking tags visibly displayed on their rear view mirror. If the gravel Junior lot fills, then Green members will have to park elsewhere. Please consider arriving early.

All other fans (non-HABC members) turn right after the main where they will be directed to the Campus Center Parking Lot and the Dining Commons/Track/Tennis Lot.

Game officials and VIPs - coaches, officials, media, trainers, scouts, etc. - turn right after the main gate and proceed to grassy parking between tennis courts and trailers.

Safety

The school spirit on display at our first two football games has been amazing, and with that spirit comes an infectious level of energy and excitement. We are thrilled to see so many families at our games and want everyone to have a great time at the games. We also want to make sure everyone is safe. Whenever there a many children in the same space, feeding off one another’s energy, there is an increased risk that someone may get hurt. With that in mind, and with the crowd for this Homecoming game likely to be even bigger than usual, here are a few reminders about how we can all help Heathwood students find the right balance between fun and safety at football games.

Weather

In the event of lightning or other unsafe weather conditions, we will delay or suspend the game and will open both the Upper and Lower Gyms. Please take your children inside one of the gyms until we give the all-clear. Note that while you may feel safe and sheltered underneath the Upper Gym, lightning can still strike beneath the building, so it is important to be inside during a storm.

Supervision

For many younger Highlanders, running and playing with friends is one of the highlights of attending football games. However, when their play is unsupervised, it can have a tendency to get too rough, or children may wander off into parts of campus where they may get lost or injured. Moreover, during football games, Heathwood becomes a more public space with guests from other schools, rather than the secure campus where all visitors must be vetted as it is during the week. For both of these reasons, we ask that you please supervise your children while they’re playing. We especially ask that students not play touch football without supervision, as the pick-up games always become rougher than initially intended if they are not monitored.

Restricted Areas

Please remind your children where it is and isn’t safe to play. For their safety, they should not venture onto the baseball field or the practice field, where they could get hurt playing on the soccer goals or the football equipment. They should also remain in well-lighted areas and away from the trees and shrubbery around the stadium or the track pavilion. Younger children should also avoid standing on the sidelines, where football players could inadvertently hurt them as they hurry on and off the field. And they should avoid playing under the bleachers where, again, it’s very easy for them to get hurt. As always, they are welcome to play in the field behind the home bleachers and to hang out by the concession stand.

Thanks for your help in making sure game nights are both fun and safe for all Highlanders, and GO HALL!