Some of the goals and objectives of the Butler County Schools’ System Improvement Plan are already being fulfilled.

At its regular board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 15, Assistant Superintendent Allin Whittle unveiled to the Butler County Board of Education that the county’s three high schools had all seen an increase in the number of students taking advanced and honors classes.

&uot;Our goal was to see a 10 percent increase in the number of high school students who are taking advanced, honors and dual enrollment classes,&uot; Whittle said. &uot;Each high school has actually gone beyond reaching that goal of 10 percent.&uot;

According to Whittle, Greenville High School has seen a big increase in students taking advanced and honors classes. Last year, GHS had 439 students taking upper-level courses, with 73 additional students signing up this year, for a 17-percent increase over last year’s numbers.

Nine students at GHS are taking dual enrollment classes, which means that these students will receive college credit for the courses they complete during their high school year.

Georgiana High School, which has a student population of 199 in grades 9-12, saw an increase of 38 percent. Last year, Georgiana High School had 50 students taking advanced and honors courses, and this year, it sees an increase of 19 students, for a total of 69 thus far.

McKenzie School also saw a 13 percent increase from last year. McKenzie School has 97 students enrolled in grades 9-12. 46 of these students took advanced classes last year, and this year, there are 52 participating.

&uot;The great thing about all of this is that it costs nothing in terms of money for this objective to be reached,&uot; Whittle said. &uot;It just takes an increase in team effort and energy, and that is exactly what has been done here.&uot;