Following the release of accountability results to the State Board of Education, Asheville City Schools is pleased to announce the district continues to increase in academic achievement.
In fact, the class of 2019’s overall four-year graduation rate was the district’s highest ever at 90.7%! Additionally, at 88.2% for Asheville High School and more than 95% for the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville, both high schools’ graduation rates were well above the state average of 86.5%.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s annual growth report also measures a student’s academic progress by examining historical test data among their peers. Student achievement and growth are combined to calculate each school’s overall performance score. The total school performance score is then converted to a 100-point scale used to determine a school performance grade of A, B, C, D or F.
Asheville City Schools was one of the few districts across the state without any D or F schools.
In fact, SILSA received an A rating. Asheville High School, Ira B. Jones Elementary School and Isaac Dickson Elementary School once again received Bs. Both Montford North Star Academy and Vance Elementary School moved from a C in 2017-2018 to a B performance grade following the most recent data release. Asheville Middle School, Claxton Elementary School and Hall Fletcher Elementary School received Cs, and the Department of Public Instruction stated there’s insufficient data to give Asheville Primary School a performance grade, as their third-grade cohort was less than 10.
Furthermore, six of Asheville City’s nine schools with sufficient data met or exceeded growth, compared to four from the 2017-2018 school year.
“These results reflect the hard work of our students, staff and families,” said Asheville City Schools’ Interim Superintendent, Dr. Bobbie Short. “Our district has a lot to be proud of.”
While each of these numbers is an important indicator of how Asheville City Schools is performing, it is critical to note that no single number is an accurate reflection of all the efforts put forth each day by the district’s students, teachers, and staff.