COASTAL OBSERVER

Kyree Grant peeked into Travis Klatka’s office at Waccamaw Intermediate School. “I’ve got something that I want to show you,” he said.

Kyree, a fifth-grader, wanted to show Klatka, the school principal, the card he got for showing good character. The cards are placed on a bulletin board to give students a chance to win an Amazon gift card provided by the parent-teacher organization at the end of every month.

There are many incentives to get intermediate school students excited about learning, according to Klatka. Those include free ice cream for completing 25 i-Ready Learning assignments that align with the state assessment.

Klatka said the open-door policy helps, too.

“Every school is unique, so what we’re doing here may or may not work in another school,” he said.

“Not to brag, but my class won the turkey trot,” Kyree said about another school event.

This summer, the Georgetown County School District recognized Waccamaw Intermediate and Waccamaw Middle as the best of their kind in the state, after reviewing assessment data and the state report cards issued last year. Both principals received banners from the district to display.

The schools have already received the results of the state’s standardized tests from the spring. They won’t be made public until next month.

But both principals expect to see the growth in student achievement continue.

The middle school scored 68 on the state report card, up a point from the prior year, and the intermediate scored 63 points, a six-point increase. That meant both were ranked “excellent” and that they “substantially exceed” state standards. Middle schools must score at least 56 out of 100 to be considered excellent. Elementary schools, which includes Waccamaw Intermediate, must score at least a 61.

“When you’re above the state levels in both of your areas, that says a lot about all of our teachers that are working together,” said Ginny Haynes, principal of Waccamaw Middle.

The school saw 71 percent of its seventh- and eighth-graders meet or exceed expectations in English and 64 percent in math, based on standardized test scores.

Both schools were pleased to be recognized by the district.

“It doesn’t matter your title, doesn’t matter how long you’ve been here. What matters is what we’re doing every single day with our students,” Haynes said. “It’s our achievement together.”

“It’s everybody. You can’t do one thing without the other,” Klatka said.

At Waccamaw Intermediate, which has students in grades four through six, 76 percent met or exceeded English standards. In math, the number was 70 percent.

The intermediate school emphasizes teaching students emotional and social skills as well as academics. 

Klatka said he believes the way the grades are configured also had a positive impact on state scores. For example, fifth graders like Kyree have two teachers to teach four subjects; one for English and social studies, another for science and math. Once a student reaches sixth grade, they have six teachers.

“It helps those teachers, too, to just focus on two areas instead of all four,” he said. “The kids are comfortable being in the school because they’ve been with us for two years. So the only thing now they have to really do is learn how to change classes and they pick up on that real quick.”

A goal for Klatka is to create a welcoming and safe environment for more than 400 students.

“We always try to be very upbeat and positive with them the second they step through our doors,” he said.

Life is like a pot of boiling water, Klatka said. He tells students they could be like a carrot when thrown into hot water, which gets weak and soft, or even an egg which toughens up.

“Or do you want to be like a coffee bean in that situation where you try to change that environment around you and make the best of it? Not only for yourself but the people around you,” he said. “When you add more coffee beans, it gets stronger. Therefore we’re making our culture and community stronger by trying to be as positive, helpful and caring as we can.”

At the middle school, their slogan is “we just can’t hide that Warrior pride.” However when the faculty looks at areas where students need help, they set pride aside.

“You’re constantly going, ‘OK, pride aside, what do our students need?’” Haynes said.

The middle school’s collaborative efforts, transparency with parents of students and culture pushed their academic ranking to the top, she said.

As a mother of two students in the Waccamaw schools, Haynes sets high expectations for the students as well as herself. For example, she has a goal to know each student’s name before Christmas break.

“These children are my children. When I’m failing other people’s children, I’m also failing mine. I take it very, very personally,” she said.

She noted that 40 percent of the middle school students are considered low income. Almost half of the seventh-graders  in that group met or exceeded expectations for English at 47 percent, and 40 percent met or exceeded math standards. In eighth grade, 63 percent of low income students met or exceeded English standards and 52 percent met or exceeded those in math.

“Our kids come from such diverse backgrounds. What everybody seems to think is that we are all wealthy living on the beach,” Haynes said. “If we don’t set our expectations high, our students don’t thrive.”

“We’re just trying to do what’s best for our kids,” Klatka said.