Williamsburg County School District sees significant academic gain
WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Williamsburg County School District is celebrating significant academic progress. District leaders are excited about the future after consistent yearly improvements on two state assessment exams, on their journey to regaining control of the district.
The district made big improvements on its SC Ready and end-of-course exams.
When it comes to academic improvements year to year, Kingstree High School has a lot to be proud of.
“Recent scores surprised all of us. We knew we put in a great body of work, and we knew we would see a return on our investment. Our Algebra-1 did great. We had great numbers. 89.6% passing rate for Algebra-1, English 2 we had 71% C or better, with a 92% passing rate. We superseded the State of South Carolina in every category as it relates to ELA and Algebra-1,” said Mark Fraiser, principal at Kingstree High School. “Our scholars here are doing great work. It’s about instilling a sense of pride in our kids, letting them know they can compete with anyone, not just here in South Carolina, but anywhere in the world.”
Frasuer said their success centered on strategy.
“Hard work, being purposeful, implementing this with fidelity, believing in the vision, believing in our teachers, believing in our scholars, knowing they can and will do it and they will achieve. It’s amazing what people will do when they believe they can. That is key, and let me say this, it doesn’t come by happenstance, it is not impromptu, it is very very intentional and prescriptive,” he said.
Williamsburg County School District Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Wymbs says the achievements are district-wide.
“We’ve seen substantial gains at all of our schools, and we’re very excited about those gains. From last year’s scores to this year’s scores our scholars on the high school level had the highest growth in Algebra-1 and Biology-1 in the state. You can attribute that to the work of these professional learning communities and progress mantra these teachers are doing daily. They really know their scholars and are connecting to our communities and our parents,” said Wymbs.
Six years ago, the South Carolina State Department of Education took control of the district due to academic and financial concerns.
Dr. Wymbs explains what the gains mean for the district in its journey to regain control: “I think it gives us excitement and motivation, especially for our scholars and parents. They know their students can achieve at a high rigorous level, and it gives us the confidence and belief that we know what we’re doing and will continue to do the work, and we’re going to continue to push our students and our communities.”
The State Department of Education sent this statement to News 2 regarding Williamsburg County’s academic gains and a timeline for when control of the district will be returned to the board and superintendent and what the current scores mean for the situation.
“Our focus remains on fostering strong collaborative efforts to build district capacity and align budgets and systems to enhance academic outcomes. We are optimistic about the upcoming school report card data and look forward to seeing strong growth. Our goal is to ensure that this progress is sustained in the coming years,” the department said.
Dr. Wymbs says, “I think they are happy with our progress, and they do a great job of supporting us. Superintendent Weaver of course has been really supportive, and we’re going to continue that collaborative effort and we’re going to push forward.” Dr. Wymbs says they will keep the momentum going. “We’re looking forward to the future. We’re going to celebrate our successes; we’re going to incentivize our scholars. We’re going to continue working in our communities to make sure everyone is collaborating to make sure our scholars have all the opportunities available to them to be successful. Now let’s continue forward. We still got a lot of room for growth. We have a long way to go but we know we can get there.”
Principal Fraiser says this is only the beginning. He says, “We keep going up. We don’t settle for mediocrity and complacency is not in our vocabulary. We’re going to continue to work hard. When the State took over, our children were a little disheartened because the State did take over, but when you come in, and instill in our children a sense of purpose and a sense of pride and a sense of dignity, knowing they can compete with anybody, these children will do just what you asked them to do. We have great momentum, momentum we shall not, and we will not lose. We will only get better.”
Fraiser says he predicts the upcoming data will show continued growth.
“This year, current year will be good and excellent on our State Report Card. We’re going to skip above average and go straight to good, if not excellent. Williamsburg County School District will be in the ear not just in this area, but everywhere in the state, and we’re making great strides under the supervision of Dr. Kelvin Wymbs.”
