Students in Saturday school, which ran for 11 weeks from January until March, made greater gains on progress tests than those who were asked to join the program but didn't, said Mary Chandler, principal at Independence Elementary where the school was housed.

School district officials hope that success will translate into higher scores on Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests -- the state standardized tests used to evaluate schools and school districts.

"I cannot tell you how many positive comments I've had from the children themselves and from the parents about the effects of Saturday school," Chandler told the school board last week.

Saturday school was Chandler's brainchild and was held at her school.

More than 100 fourth- and fifth-grade students were hand-picked to participate. The school targeted students who were on the verge of scoring "basic" on PACT but didn't quite make it. Participation was voluntary and not everyone who was invited signed up.

A typical day started at 8 a.m. with a snack and math games. Then, there were two academic periods with a 10-minute break in the middle. Classes focused on trying to help the children improve their reading and math problem-solving skills. The day ended at noon.

The student-teacher ratio was no more than 10:1, much lower than the district's average for elementary schools, which is 22:1.

"I really think that the smallness of the groups, that's what made the difference," Chandler said.

Superintendent Lynn Moody said some of the gains students made were not academic. She told the school board that students also had improved confidence. At their home schools, they might have been behind, but in Saturday school, everyone was on a level playing field. Many students got extra attention when they went back to their regular schools because the teacher would ask them how Saturday went.

"Their social status went sky high," Moody said.

Chandler is crossing her fingers that everything will fall into place for the school to continue. She said she got many calls from parents asking to enroll their children in Saturday school, but there wasn't enough room for everyone.

"If we had the money and we were able to have more staff, we could open it up and that would be wonderful," she said.

Bill Mabry, a district associate superintendent, said it's too soon to say whether there will be money for the program next year. Mabry and his staff are working on creating a budget recommendation for the school board to consider.

"We're going to do our very best not to impact instructional programs," he said.