GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – At Tyrrell elementary school , they made an accomplishment that has not been done in about ten years. Students, teachers, and administrative staff all worked together, and they are celebrating with a blue party.

Tyrrell elementary school came through a long educational journey, and now they are no longer a low-performing school.

The kids are thrilled with their hard work paying off. Kenneth Brickhouse, a Tyrrell elementary school student said, “I feel excited and happy. we exceeded growth in every class so we’re having a party for that.”

The color blue shows that they have gone above and beyond with their growth, according to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

Principal Mary Bridgers believes this achievement comes from the changes the school has made.

She told WITN, “We didn’t have a curriculum when I came in. So, we implemented that curriculum, we made sure that we monitored that curriculum, the consistency, the fidelity with the curriculum, giving teachers feedback, and just making sure that I, as a principal was visible throughout the school and in the classrooms.

State superintendent Catherine Truitt says that this was especially notable coming out of a pandemic, since the students missed a year and a half of their academics.

Truitt shared, “42% of schools in North Carolina are designated as “D” or an “F.” So for a school, as we are still trying to recover from the pandemic, come off of a low performing list, it’s just a huge accomplishment.”

Despite the challenges, students here showed almost 30% increase in both reading and math proficiency, and became a model to other low performing schools.

Tyrrell elementary school says the next step is to continue this growth and get ranked higher from a “C” school to an “A” or a “B” school by the DPI.