Cool School: Marrington Middle School of the Arts

The arts and academics go hand in hand at Marrington Middle School of the Arts in Goose Creek. Students and staff there are leaping to new heights. We head to Berkeley county for our Cool School of the Week.

You can feel the energy throughout Marrington Middle School of the Arts, an arts infused school on the Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek.

From music, to drama, to dance, Marrington has it all. Principal Jim Spencer says, "Our school culture is truly amazing. It's an energizing culture. It's a culture where we use the arts and students passion for the arts and it works both directions."

The more than 400 students in 6th through 8th grade, who walk the halls at Marrington, excel in both academics and the arts. Music teacher Stephen Cordeiro says, "We're lucky because the kids here academically are so good."

Spencer says, "We were selected as a Palmetto Gold Award winner in the state of South Carolina for academic achievement, but also, a Palmetto Gold Award for closing the achievement gap, which is very important to us."

Students say mixing academics and the arts has many advantages. Seventh grade student, Kayla Domingue says, "We always stay on task and we stay focused and the teachers they help us." Sixth grade student, Mary Dennis says, "Your art classes, and band and everything. It just separates all the classes and it makes it easier to focus." Seventh grade student, Jordyn Brown says "They take academics and mix it with art so that it's more interesting to learn. The dance program is great, we do a lot of activities. The fine arts classes are really fun, and the teachers are really exciting." The energy was so captivating, News 2's Octavia Mitchell joined in on a hip hop lesson. Principal Spencer says, "Marrington Middle School is just a wonderful place to be, for students and for adults."

Marrington Middle School of the Arts is a 2011-2012 South Carolina Schools to Watch finalist. The school received an excellent on the state report card for absolute rating and improvement.

Coming up Wednesday on News 2 Today, in addition to all of their many honors, we'll tell you about a special national honor that makes Marrington Middle School of the Arts truly unique, and so cool.

We want to hear about the good things that are going on at your school. Send an email to Octavia at omitchell@wcbd.com and tell us all about it. You can also find a link to nominate your school on our Cool School page as well. Maybe your school will be the next Cool School of the week.