School grades are in from the Florida Department of Education and, once again, St. Johns County ranks above average in education.
In St. Johns County, there are 23 A schools and five B schools, giving the district the third-highest score in the state. (Superintendent Joseph Joyner talks about the school board's goals in a related story that appears in the July 11 issue of the Ponte Vedra Recorder.)
According to the school district, the number of A schools jumped 44 percent over last year. This reflects a decrease from eight to five schools with B ratings and the elimination of two C schools.
"I am more than thrilled," said Beverly Slough, school board District 1 representative. "These are the best scores we’ve ever had…and it’s all because of the hard work of the teachers and administrators. I’m very excited."
Ocean Palms Elementary School remained an A school this year, as it has been in the past. Mike Parrish, principal of Ocean Palms, said he was pleased with the results.
"I’m proud of what the students have done," said Parrish. "It’s a nice honor to be an A school."
Kathleen Furness, principal of Ponte Vedra Palm Valley/Rawlings Elementary School, is also excited with the results.
"I’m very pleased with the FCAT results," she said. "We realize that it does take a lot of talent and hard work to get these kinds of results and we are very proud of the staff and students."
Linda Thompson, principal of Nease High School, which jumped back up to an A grade after earning a B in the 2006-2007 school year, expressed the same sentiment.
"I’m so very proud and happy for our teachers," she said. "They have been working very hard all year [to help our students] and now we have validation, a sort of pat on the back from the state. It was a team effort and I am thrilled."
According to FDOE, of the 2,889 schools graded this year, nearly three-quarters are considered to be high-performing, earning either an A or a B grade. In addition, the number of schools considered to be low-performing significantly decreased compared to last year’s numbers.
St. Johns County was one of 32 districts that earned an A grade in 2008 and one of only 10 counties to score an A for seven consecutive years. A minimum of 525 points was needed on the recent Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to qualify as an A district, and St. Johns County earned 579 points.
In addition to school grades, results of Adequate Yearly Progress, which is part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act showed that Ocean Palms and Landrum did not meet the federal requirements.
AYP measurements target the performance and participation of various student subgroups on statewide assessments based on race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, and English proficiency.
According to FDOE, while the majority of public schools are measured for AYP, only Title I schools (schools that receive federal funding for low-income students) face increasing levels of corrective action for failing to meet AYP two or more years in a row.
This year, 1,104 Florida Title I schools did not make AYP. Neither Ocean Palms nor Landrum are Title I schools.
July 16th 2008 - 11:47AM