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$135 Million Cogeneration Facility to Locate in Darlington County

April 8, 2009

By Jim Faile

All four of the Darlington County School District’s high schools deserve congratulations for winning a significant honor recently.

The four — Hartsville High School, Darlington High School, Lamar High School and Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology — received Palmetto Gold awards from the State Department of Education for outstanding academic achievement and improvement.

They are among more than 400 public schools throughout South Carolina to earn cash awards recognizing academic achievement, student academic improvements and success in closing achievement gaps between groups of students in 2008.

The Palmetto Gold and Palmetto Silver award program was created under the state’s Education Accountability Act of 1998. Now in its eighth year, the program includes two parts — recognition for general school performance and progress in closing achievement gaps between student groups.

The state’s Education Oversight Committee sets the criteria for the awards.

Schools received general awards for overall performance based on their 2008 state report card’s absolute and improvement ratings. Those ratings are determined by PACT (Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test) scores for elementary and middle school students. For high schools, the ratings are based on state high school exit exam results, graduation rates and percentage of students passing end-of-course tests.

“We’ve seen tremendous improvement in student achievement and in closing the gap between African American and other students at our high schools,” said Superintendent of Education Dr. Rainey Knight.

Knight went on to say that it was the four high schools that brought about the overall improvement on the school district’s growth rating on the state’s school report card for 2008. “That improvement was carried on the backs of our high schools,” she said.

All four of this year’s winning schools have won Palmetto Gold awards in years past. This is the sixth for Mayo. Lamar High now has three, and Hartsville and Darlington each have two.

Several other district schools have won Palmetto Gold awards in years past as well. They include Pate Elementary, Cain Elementary and Washington Street Elementary.

Palmetto Silver winners from years past include Brockington Elementary, Hartsville High, Lamar High, North Hartsville Elementary, Washington Street Elementary, Thornwell School for the Arts, Lamar Elementary, Rosenwald/St. David’s Elementary, Brunson-Dargan Elementary, Spaulding Junior High, Carolina Elementary, St. John’s Elementary and Spaulding Elementary.

Schools received closing the achievement gap awards based on academic gains made by students who fall into four subgroups — African American students, Hispanic students, students participating in federal free- or reduced-lunch programs and students with non-speech disabilities.

High schools may receive a Gold closing the gap award if the graduation rate of at least one subgroup meets or exceeds the statewide graduation rate of historically high-achieving students.

Winning a Palmetto Gold award is a significant accomplishment for a school, an accomplishment of which teachers and staffs, students, parents and the communities served by these four schools should be proud.

As State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said: “A school that wins one of these awards is focused on kids and dedicated to their success. It shows what can happen when educators have high expectations for students and when parents and community members support those educators and students.”

Courtesy SCNow.com