This Horry County school is one of only five in the state to earn national recognition

Some of America’s best standardized test takers lined the hallways of St. James Elementary Sept. 16, cheering it was revealed theirs was among a handful of schools nationwide to pull down the U.S Department of Education’s highest recognition.

“I can’t believe we got a blue ribbon! But what is it,” one student excitedly asked as principal Felisa McDavid announced over loudspeakers the rapidly growing school joined 297 others across the county as a 2021 National Blue Ribbon winner, measured by student achievement being in the top 15 percent on state assessments in language arts and math.

St. James is one of five South Carolina schools included in this year’s round of Blue Ribbon winners.

The school’s cohort of third and fourth graders vastly outperformed their peers across South Carolina on both the SC Pass and SC Ready tests administered last year:

• 68.3 percent of St. James Elementary students were at or above expectations in science, compared to 43.7 percent statewide.
• 62.9 percent of third graders were at or above expectations in English Language Arts, compared to 43.3 percent statewide.
• 68.3 percent of fourth graders were at or above expectations in English Language Arts, compared to 46.1 percent statewide.
• 72.2 percent of third graders were at or above expectations in math, compared to 46.9 percent statewide.
• 62 percent of fourth graders were at or above expectations in math, compared to 42 percent statewide.

“The group of students for whose these tests yielded this award were students who have overcome quite a bit of challenges,” McDavid told reporters.

It wasn’t just the pandemic that took in-person learning time for students. They also were out of school for almost a month in 2018 because of flooding and storm damage from Hurricane Florence.

“With all of those challenges they they have overcome, we continue to perform and excel, so we are extremely proud of our students and staff members,” McDavid said.

McDavid and assistant principal Heather Daminov both arrived to St. James nine years ago with a focus on boosting student achievement.

Schools can only be nominated for a National Blue Ribbon award by their state superintendents in a confidential process, but its 20-page application was made public following its win.

Reading comprehension, accuracy, fluency, vocabulary building and writing are core parts of the curriculum, while lessons are delivered to entire classes, broken in smaller groups or crafted for individual students.

St. James is the 15th Horry County school to be nationally recognized, and the 7th over the past decade.

Most recently, Ocean Drive Elementary was named a Blue Ribbon school in 2020.

This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 10:53 AM.