Three North Myrtle Beach schools get quick conversions for new grade alignment

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH The floors are slippery these days at the former North Myrtle Beach Primary School, where workers are sandblasting in the corridors to make way for new no-wax, vinyl flooring.

Furniture and other items have been stashed in the auditorium and media center, and painting has begun in the halls, with some walls already awash in a new color scheme of soft spring green, white and baby blue.

Were trying to improve and reconfigure the school, said Matt Dean, executive director of facilities for Horry County Schools. Theres mostly interior work going on, but there will be some site work, too.

Similar work is in progress at North Myrtle Beachs former elementary and intermediate buildings this summer, as about $5.6 million is being spent to convert all three schools to serve multiple grade levels. A committee of parents and school officials last year recommended adding attendance lines for the area to better use the space, ease overcrowding and achieve other benefits.

The change for the first time alters the configuration of the North Myrtle Beach cluster, which has mirrored that of the Myrtle Beach cluster, where all students attend the same schools. North Myrtle Beach Primary served students in pre-kindergarten through first grade, while students in grades two and three attended North Myrtle Beach Elementary School, and those in grades four and five went to North Myrtle Beach Intermediate School.

From an educational standpoint, it makes more sense, said board member Harvey Eisner, as it gives teachers and administrators more years to work with students, and it eases the burden on the primary school, which had 894 children last year some as young as 3 years old and all needing constant supervision.

Dean said school capacity should be around 80 to 90 percent, but the primary school - now known as Ocean Drive Elementary School was at 99 percent capacity and still will have the most students when it opens in the fall. The elementary school, renamed Riverside Elementary, was at 92 percent capacity with 700 students, while the intermediate school now Waterway Elementary was at 60 percent capacity with 673 students.

Ocean Drive has the most school transfer requests to date, with 99 students transferring into the school and 28 transferring out, according to the district. Riversides transfers are at 51 into the school, with 67 out, while 49 students are transferring to Waterway and 65 transferring out of the school.

School officials say that there are many reasons parents request transferring from one school to another, including convenience to their work locations and daycare options. Ocean Drive Principal Renea Fowler said some of her parents also may feel they just want to keep their students at the former primary school because of their age.

They are just more involved at that point, Fowler said.

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Three North Myrtle Beach schools get quick conversions for new grade alignment