Spencer High School Principal Reginald Griffin believes “every student counts on this campus,” and he has a story to prove it.
It’s the story of how Spencer made adequate yearly progress for the first time ever.
When the preliminary AYP report was released in July, Spencer was once again considered a failing school. If just one more student had taken the Georgia High School Graduation Test and passed math, the school would have passed.
But Griffin realized that one more student had taken the test. What was missing was the student’s score sheet.
“We knew the student had taken the test. She had come to all of the tutorials,” Griffin said.
Still, the test sheet could not be found.
“We searched everywhere,” Griffin said.
Then the test booklets were checked. Out fell the score sheet.
The student’s grade was a passing one.
“It would have really hurt to have missed on a math score because we have made a gigantic leap in math,” Griffin said.
Last year, Spencer made AYP academically but missed because of graduation rate. “Making it academically two years in a row shows we’re on to something,” he said.
Muscogee County School Superintendent Susan Andrews praised Griffin, saying his leadership in the school has made an impact.
“He has made sure everyone knows what is expected and the teachers have worked hard to push the mission forward,” she said.
Shurmain Broadwater is head of the math department at Spencer.
“I knew we had made it,” Broadwater said. “I knew there was a mistake. Still, it’s good to get the final word. It’s a great accomplishment and shows we have a formula that is working. We have a fabulous work relationship between teachers and students. We know what needs to be done and we do it.”
She said it is a moment of pride for the school. Spencer senior Rachel Cotterell agreed.
“We were concerned at first when it was said we didn’t make AYP because all of the students had been talking about how well they had done,” Rachel said. “Making AYP is a thing of pride and now we’re challenging other Spencer classes to do the same.”
Rachel gave a lot of credit to Griffin.
“He is great at encouraging people,” she said. “He makes you want to do your best.”
Griffin, 39, is a Hardaway High School graduate whose father, Percy Griffin, was Spencer principal from 1988-1991. The younger Griffin left his job as a middle school principal in Tallahassee, Fla., to come home to Columbus in 2007.
He said the philosophy at Spencer now is “one and done,” meaning he expects students to pass the graduation test the first time they take it.
“This is a real feather in our cap,” Griffin said. “Now we have to do it two years in a row to get off the needs improvement list. Making AYP is important to students, teachers, and to the community.”
Griffin, who said financial resources from alumni and Partners in Education has played a big role in Spencer’s success, remarked that Spencer sometimes gets a “bad rap” in the community. “We can’t control that,” he said. “We can only control the educational process.”
Griffin said he has ramped up courses at Spencer, and that about 30 percent of students now take advanced placement courses, compared to less than 1 percent when he arrived.
One Spencer graduate, Muscogee County School Board chair Cathy Williams, said she knows why her alma mater made AYP. “It can be attributed directly to the principal,” she said. “Everyone there is so determined to make it.”
Next week, the school will have a pep rally, during which Griffin plans to deliver a simple message: “See what hard work gets you.”
