For Elizabethton City Schools officials, the 2016-17 academic year netted positive results.
And the state was able to take notice.
Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Candice McQueen unveiled the latest Tennessee State Report Card online for school districts across the state on Wednesday, Jan. 10, as a resource to help school employees and families access and understand information about the educational landscape.
“We have much to be proud of from this past year, and the report card allows us to once again celebrate the success of our schools, like graduation rate and ACT scores, while seeing where we can grow and improve,” McQueen said in a release issued to the Elizabethton Star. “The state report card provides a clear picture for parents, educators and communities to see how our schools are performing, locally and across the state.”
McQueen recently provided a letter to educational leaders documenting different steps the state has taken to improve the educational infrastructure.
According to information from the department, the class of 2017 posted the state’s highest graduation rate at 89.1 percent while the average ACT score reached 20.1, another highest average achieved by the state with the department adding even more students took the test last year.
In a report issued from the department, many school districts across the state, including Dyersburg City, Huntingdon Special, Bradford Special and Trousdale, ranked in the top 100th percentile for growth across the nation and “dozens of districts” are in the 90th percentile.
While Tennessee continues to boast its lowest unemployment in state’s history, and making strides in small business growth, Elizabethton City Schools is assisting the effort.
Elizabethton High School’s graduation rate was logged at 99.5 percent for last year while the average ACT composite from the district (20.7) surpassed the state’s average.
2016-17 was a busy year for the department, according to ECS Director of Schools Dr. Corey Gardenhour, who recently sung the praises of staff and students for putting in the work to help increase the district’s notoriety in the state.
Along with national attention from the “Bartleby Project,” the school district was able to secure a “Read To Be Ready” grant to offer a summer reading project. The school district recently announced they will be holding the program once again this year.
“It is a team effort,” Gardenhour recently told the Elizabethton Star. “We’re proud and thankful for the staff and students we have and we look forward to seeing continued growth for our school district.”
Visit www.measuretn.gov:444/ReportCard/#/ online to view the report card on each school district from the state.