Our School History


  • July 9, 1999 Sister Roberta Thoen is greeted with a surprise party when she arrived to take the principal’s position at new elementary school.
  • August 1999 St. Michael Catholic School opens its doors and welcomes new students. Number of students enrolled totals over 60 in grades K-4.
  • August 2000 St. Michael adds fifth grade and now enrolls almost 125 students.
  • September 30, 2001 St. Michael Catholic Church celebrates our 25th anniversary. Sixth grade is added and school now educates 150 students. School expansion project approved.
  • September 2002 Seventh grade is added. Enrollment continues to grow.
  • June 2002 Construction of new classroom and science lab completed.
  • February 16, 2003 Bishop Robert J. Baker visits St. Michael Catholic School to Bless new classrooms and 800 sq. ft. science lab during dedication ceremony.
  • April 24, 2003 Three Students become semifinalists in Christopher Columbus Award for their project on turtle migration and win a trip to Walt Disney World to compete for national championship in June. Idea was judged as top 30 in country out of 2,000 entries.
  • September 2003 Eighth grade is added. Enrollment continues to grow.
  • September 25, 2004 Our beloved Monsignor Thomas R. Duffy dies at age 71. In May, Monsignor celebrated his 46th year in the priesthood.
  • August 2004 Fr. Ray Carlos become pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church
  • September 2004 Duffy Center opens and is named after our beloved Monsignor Thomas R. Duffy.
  • August 2005 Hanley Hall is renovated and becomes Hanley Library and Media Center. The space was designed by Maura Lefemine Utley and features a 48 foot mural painted by Maura depicting scenes from the southern end of the Grand Strand. Mark Utley and Ragene Construction built the reading gazebo and adjacent bookcases. Adjacent garden was built by Mary Churchill and Nancy Ciancione. Funding for this project came from area businesses, parents and parisioners. For more information, click on Gator News and Press Releases.
  • Sept 2005 Sister Roberta is named religious educator of the year.
  • Feb 11 2006 Students preform extremely well on IOWA tests; topping between 58-83% of other students. Our average score was 72% against national norm of 50%.
  • March 2006 Four students win national Explora Vision Award. (See Gator News and Press Releases)
  • April 1 2006 School and church website is launched!
  • April 24 2006 Luke Ellerbe, an 8th grader, has received the 2006 Governor�s Citizenship Award for outstanding character, service, leadership, responsibility and discipline.
  • May 1, 2006 Kyle Myres receives Merrill Lynch Distinguished Advisor Award sponsored by Merrill Lynch and the South Carolina Council on Economic Education (SCCEE).
  • May 15, 2006 Five Teachers Receive Title II Funding from Horry County
  • July 2006 Thanks to Ed Pott and many other volunteers, we have approximately 5 computers in every classroom and our church and school is on-line and completely wireless!
  • Sept. 2006 St. Michaels launches Time For Growth, A Time for Grace Campaign to build a new church.
  • September 2, 2006 St. Michael Catholic receives $10,000 grant to build a baseball field from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans’ Youth Diamond Fund.
  • September 2006 St. Michael Catholic Church and School hires Hanyes Sign Company to build signage for our new entrance way. Thank you Maura Utley, for designing our sign. Thanks to Jody Baker and the entire Signage Committee and Building and Grounds supervisor Bill Donahue for their hard work to make this sign happen.
  • October 2006 WELCOME CHOMPY Our New School Mascot “Chompy”, our new school mascot, arrived at our school. We welcome “CHOMPY” with open arms and look forward to seeing him at the games and at various school functions throughtout the year! Chompy, Chompy, Chompy! Visit the “Bios” page and learn all about our newest friend.
  • May 2007 St. Michael Catholic introduces the FAIR SHARE ACT and V.I.P. Incentive Program. Congratulations Joann Cordell – winner of our first annual Monsignor Duffy Award for Outstanding Stewardship. Congratuations Joann.
  • May 2008 Congratulations Barbara Lowe. Barbara is the 2007-08 Fair Share VIP Winner of the second annual Monsignor Duffy Award for Outstanding Stewardship. Congratulations Barbara.
  • Aug. 2008 St. Michael Catholic School and Church breaks ground on the new Gator Field. Thanks to the generosity of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Youth Diamond Fund and Mark Utley for spearheading the construction of the field, our field of dreams is becoming a reality.
  • Aug. 2008 St. Michael Catholic School enters into its TENTH ACADEMIC year. Thank you Sister Roberta Thoen for ten years of incredible service and dedication. We love you.
  • Sept. 2008 Our new Parochial Vicar, Fr. Andrew Trapp, joins St. Michael Catholic Church. Visit his website at www.saintfactory.com
  • Sept. 2008 On Saturday, September 20, our new GATOR FIELD is blessed by Father Ray and Father Andrew. Event was well-attended by students, parents, parishioners, other members of the community. Representatives from the Youth Diamond Fund and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans were also in attendance to celebrate this special event. .
  • Feb. 2009 SMCS Robotics Team wins first place in the states Lego League Challenge in “teamwork”.
  • March 2009 Seven 8th grade students from St. Michael Catholic named SC Jr. Scholars for their outstanding PSAT scores. GO GATORS!
  • March 2009 Msgr. Robert Guglielmone, named new Bishop of Charleston.
  • April 2009 St, Michael Gives Back and announces special scholarship program for new middle school student.
  • May 2009 Sister Roberta Thoen, founder of St. Michael Catholic School moves to Savannah, Georgia and becomes principal at St. Peter’s Catholic School. Good luck Sister, we love you!
  • June 2009 Tony Boone wins First Place in an Intra-League Spelling Bee at Christian Academy
  • July 2009 Miriam Jones begins her career as principal of St. Michael Catholic School. Welcome Mrs. Jones!
  • August 2009 Our school’s marketing blitz welcomes 43 new students to St. Michael Catholic School
  • September 2009 Patrick Golden wins the Knights of Columbus International Free-Throw Contest.
  • October 2009 Father Andrew Trapp wins $100,000 from PokerStars.net. Father Andrew generously donates his winnings to our new church fund and becomes known as the “Poker Playing Priest”. Father Andrew advances for a chance to win one million dollars. Good luck Father Andrew!  
  • February 2010 St. Michael’s Catholic school robotics wins regional competition and goes on to compete at Clemson University. 
  • March 2010 St. Michael’s Catholic school places all three teams in International Lego League Robotics Competition at Clemson University. Thank you Kyle Myres for chairing our Robotics team.
  • August 2010 Andrew Thomas joins the staff at St. Michael Catholic School to teach Language Arts, Spanish and Religion.
God Bless St. Michael Catholic School.

Excellence in Education. Respect for Life.