Horry County Schools had an impressive year
A December 28 article in The Sun News highlighted last year’s education news about Horry County Schools. But the list was short on items that were actually highlights. We would like to add to reporter Christian Boschult’s list with a few items that are meaningful to the school district and our communities. We would be remiss not to share the tremendous progress and performance of our students, teachers and schools who made 2016 a remarkable year.
There were several “firsts” and new records set for HCS this past year, showing that our district is among the best in the state and that we are moving forward all the time. We would like to add the following to the list:
- The 2016 graduating class was our largest ever, earning $63.5 million in scholarships. Seventy-two percent of graduates qualified for scholarships supported by the South Carolina Education Lottery. Seventy-eight percent of graduates indicated they were college-bound. These graduates earned a record number of dual-credit courses, 2,776 in all, which help to reduce the time and expense it takes to complete college degrees.
- SAT scores for the class of 2016 surpassed the national average and climbed a record 46 points, for a district composite of 1535.
- A record number of students took Advanced Placement courses and improved the percentage of tests with a score of “3” or higher, to 65.3 percent – above the state and national average.
- Students in grades third through eighth outperformed the state in the S.C. READY exam, which measures achievement in English Language Arts and mathematics, as well as the S.C. PASS exam, which measures achievement in science and social studies.
- HCS was awarded system-wide accreditation by AdvancED last spring, yielding an international seal of approval.In a separate review, the Academy for Arts, Science, and Technology was awarded the new AdvancED STEM Certification, distinguishing the program as a highly-effective school prioritizing education in science, technology, engineering and math. A second STEM program was launched at Conway High to meet the growing requests for a four-year STEM educational program.
- Our Personalized Digital Learning initiative came full-circle, with expansion to the third and fourth grades, with student iPads.
- High school athletic teams claimed three state championships: Aynor won the Class AA state championship in baseball; St. James High won a second consecutive Class AAA state championship in girls’ golf; and Myrtle Beach High claimed the Class AAA state championship in girls’ tennis.
- Forestbrook Middle won its second Battle of the Carolina’s Mock Trial competition and holds the record for the most state Mock Trial championships.
- Ocean Bay Middle’s Robo-Rays advanced to compete at the FIRST Lego League World Championship.
- Our own Technology Fair hit record-high participation, with 1,500 students.
- St. James High’s Col. Stephen Cellucci was named National Senior Army Instructor of the Year; Conway High’s Jim Berry received the national Most Distinguished Trainer Award; and Early College High’s Samantha DeCerbo was named a National Behring Teacher Ambassador.
- Winning state honors were Forestbrook Middle’s Joey Trail, one of five finalists for the SC Teacher of the Year; Myrtle Beach High’s John Cahill, the State’s Athletic Director of the Year; Carolina Forest Elementary’s Kimberly Rothberg, a finalist for the Presidential Teaching Award for Excellence; Ocean Bay Middle’s Billy Gainus was named the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year for South Carolina.
- Five new schools are under construction, three of which are newly-added; the other two will replace current facilities. Three middle schools are underway for the Socastee, Carolina Forest, and Myrtle Beach attendance areas. When the new Myrtle Beach Middle School opens, the current school will be converted to become the new site for Myrtle Beach Intermediate School. An intermediate school is being built for the St. James area and will serve fifth and sixth grades for the St. James attendance area, providing relief to the St. James area by pulling fifth graders out of feeder elementary schools and pulling sixth grade out of the feeder middle school. A new elementary will replace the current Socastee Elementary, one of our oldest facilities that is over capacity and land-locked. In addition to the five new schools, major renovation and addition projects are underway at Midland Elementary and North Myrtle Beach High, bringing much-needed relief to crowded schools and replacing sections of the facilities that are among our oldest.
HCS continues to be one of the most successful school districts in South Carolina. The list of 2016 highlights is indeed a long list, but we hope for an even more successful 2017.
The writer is the public information officer for Horry County Schools.
This story was originally published January 24, 2017 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Horry County Schools had an impressive year."