It was a Christmas present that Blackville-Hilda school superintendent Teresa Pope could not open until Jan. 22.

Pope learned over Christmas that Macedonia Elementary School met its AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) goal within the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but the information was embargoed until last week.

The S.C. Department of Education released the AYP findings for all public schools in the state Jan. 22 in its 2009 state report card for public schools.

In Barnwell County, Macedonia Elementary was the only public school in the Blackville-Hilda district to meet the AYP requirement.

Kelly Edwards Elementary and Williston-Elko Middle schools in the Williston school district met its AYP objectives. Both schools had 17 objectives to reach. Williston-Elko High met 7 of its 13 objectives, according to state education data.

"I had to contain myself since December," Pope said. "It has just taken some time - over several years - but we had people from the state who came and helped us."

An external review team had come to the school to help the district see where its weaknesses were. School teachers also used the MAP (Measurable Academic Performance) assessments to see how their progress was going, she said.

This is the first time that Macedonia made AYP, Pope said.

Macedonia met all 19 of its objectives to make AYP. Blackville-Hilda High met 6 of its 13 objectives and the junior high school met 10 of its 13 objectives, according to state education data.

If a school misses one objective, it is counted as having not met AYP.

Better discipline and getting the students, staff, faculty and parents to claim ownership in the school helped bring about this achievement, said Teresa Reid, Macedonia's principal.

Four years ago, disciplinary referrals were as high as 3,000. Now in the 2009-10 school year, referrals are less than 100, Reid said.

"We have narrowed our referrals down from 1,000 to less than 100 in a couple of years," she said.

Less disciplinary referrals means less classroom disruptions, Reid said.

Reid displayed the state report card to the students and "showed them how we are compared to other schools like us in the state," she said.

One reason for that was to foster a sense of ownership in the students for their education and school, she said.

"They are being held more and more accountable for their learning," Reid said.

During one recent meeting, Reid asked, "If you are an educator, raise your hand," she said.

"The kids learn from all of us. We are all educators. I was so happy when non-teachers raised their hands," Reid said.

To keep their success going, next year the school is going to have some single gender classrooms, probably in third grade, she said.

Also, the school will "loop" some of its teachers, meaning a teacher for one subject, like science, who has taught fourth graders this year, will teach the same students for the fifth grade level science, she said.

"They are familiar with each other and they already have a relationship," Reid said.

"In a nutshell, we have bonded and work together and put the children first," she said of the AYP success. "The team is not just in the classroom but across the district and the community."

In the Barnwell 45 school district, Barnwell Primary met 15 of its 17 objectives; Barnwell Elementary met 19 of its 21 objectives; Guinyard-Butler Middle School had 15 out of 21 and Barnwell High had 10 out of 17 objectives met.

Last year the district set up a data room at the district office to chart the performance of the schools, he said.

"We have certainly gotten better. Across the system, there have certainly been some improvements, but certainly not making AYP is not acceptable. We are pleased with the progress they have made and we will make AYP eventually," said Roy Sapough, the Barnwell 45 superintendent.