Hampton Co. students return to classroom; officials talk changes to elementary schools

HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - Over 2,000 students returned to the classroom on Thursday in Hampton County.

One of the biggest changes across the district involves Varnville Elementary and Ben Hazel Primary School.

“This year, they are keeping their fourth graders, so we are just excited and looking forward to great things,” Hampton County Superintendent, Dr. Glenda Sheffield, said.

Those two elementary schools will now be kindergarten through fourth-grade, while Hampton Elementary is now Hampton Intermediate and will serve fifth and sixth-grade students.

Peggy Bing O’Banner is the principal at Varnville Elementary and says she has already noticed a difference.

“I have so many more students coming in,” O’Banner said. “We probably increased by 120 kids.”

WTOC visited one of those fourth-grade classrooms on Thursday alongside Superintendent Sheffield, which was already hard at work when we walked in.

The students in that classroom are in a unique position because they have the same teacher as last year, so they knew what to expect on the first day.

Not every new fourth-grade classroom is like that in the district, but Dr. Sheffield says the mission remains the same in each one.

“I just want to make certain that everything we do is all about our students and making certain that we are setting them up for success and that we are maximizing their educational potential,” Dr. Sheffield said.

And Dr. Sheffield says it couldn’t be accomplished without her amazing teachers in the classroom.

“Those who are in the classroom making it happen every single day,” Dr. Sheffield said.

Across the hall from that classroom, we visited a third-grade class, which was getting a lay of the land ahead of the new year.

O’Banner says that those students will not only learn a lot this year, but also soar to new heights.

“We want to teach kids how to love each other, how to be compassionate, and how to be kind,” O’Banner said. “We are going to rise, and as we rise, everybody else comes right along with us.”

Something that is staying the same this school year is that students in the district will once again get free meals at school.