Three Sweet Home schools, Crawfordsville, Holley and Sweet Home Charter School, scored the highest rating possible on their 2008-09 school report cards released by the state on Nov. 10.

The three schools were called “outstanding” in a new three-level rating system that also includes “satisfactory” and “in need of improvement.”

Sweet Home High School was the only school to be labeled “in need of improvement.”

That was the result of errors reporting how many students took state assessment tests, said Supt. Larry Horton. The district
corrected the information with the state Department of Education, but past the deadline, the ODE did not accept the corrections.

The school received credit for 94.3 percent of students taking the test last year, Horton said. The state requires 95 percent participation or the school is automatically considered “in need of improvement.”

The district found four students whose information was incorrect or who had moved, Horton said.

All other schools, including Oak Heights, Foster, Hawthorne and Sweet Home Junior High were labeled “satisfactory.”

The three-rating system replaces a five-rating system that included “exceptional,” “strong,” “satisfactory,” “low” and “unacceptable.” Last year, Oak Heights received a rating of “strong.” The Charter School was not rated, and all other schools were listed as “satisfactory.”

The ratings primarily are based on testing performance, improvement in testing, participation in testing and attendance.

“Congratulations on the highest rating to Crawfordsville, Holley and Sweet Home Charter School,” Horton said.

The report cards must be sent to parents no later than Jan. 15.

Overall in testing for 2008-09, District 55 had a higher percentage of students than the state meeting or exceeding benchmarks in reading in grades three, four and six in reading. Grade five was at the state percentage while grades seven,
eight and 10 were below.

In math, grades five, eight and 10 were above the state average while grades three, four, six and seven were below.

In science, grades five, eight and 10 were above the state averages.

In writing, grade 10 was below the state average.

The report cards are kind of a mixture, Horton said. “There’s room for growth and room to celebrate.”

It’s difficult to reach “outstanding,” he said, and he applauds those schools while anticipating that Oak Heights and Sweet Home Junior High are poised to make the grade next year.

Crawfordsville was above the state averages in all areas, reading, math and science.

“We’ve had ‘strong’ several times, but we’ve never been in the top,” Crawfordsville Principal Elena Barton said. “We’re doing the same thing we’ve done for many years.”

That is emphasizing math, reading and writing, with special morning sessions focused in those three areas, Barton said. The school also looks at each child’s test scores periodically, and if they are not making improvements, the school makes an “intervention,” which means the student gets extra support and instruction.

She credits her “wonderful staff,” she said. “We’re just very creative with the time we have.”

Being a Title I school, Crawfordsville also has a few more resources compared to some other district schools, she said. A PE specialist allows teachers to spend extra time with struggling students from other classes, providing the necessary instruction.

All elementary schools in the district follow the same procedure for monitoring progress and providing additional help to students, she said.

“We think that’s made a difference,” she said, and she believes it will pay off at other schools.

“We’re very proud of it,” she said of the report card. “We’re extremely proud of it. I’m grateful I have a great staff. They’re the people that get the work done. I appreciate them all.”

She plans to announce the report card to the students next week and have a celebration.

Holley scored above state averages in reading, math and science, and 100 percent of fifth-graders met the science standard.

Horton believes that volunteer programs, like a twice-weekly science class by local veterinarian Steven Hiatt, have helped.

“All of it goes to the staff, and the previous principal and how they ran this building,” Holley Principal Jack Nickerson said. This is his first year as principal. Tiffanie Lambert was principal last year.

“It’s like a family,” Nickerson said. “Everybody’s on the same page.”

Teachers and assistants have coordinated well for a long time, he said. “Even this year, it’s making my job easier. I’ve just got to make sure I don’t wreck the bus.”

Parental involvement has been crucial too, he said. “We have lots of parents in the hallways.”

The sheer number of parents involved is impressive for that size of a school, he said, and he’s never seen it before. Normally, about 10 percent might get involved. At Holley, a school typically running around 100 students, he has 25 to 30 parents who are regularly involved.

“Not a day goes by without two or three parents doing something,” he said.

The charter school was above state averages in reading, math and science, with 100 percent in the fourth-grade meeting the benchmarks in math and reading.

“We feel awesome,” said Sherrie Ingram, People Involved in Education board member. “It’s a lot of hard work. It’s a tough curriculum. It’s hard for teachers too.”

The Charter School opened performing below the state averages in most areas initially. The school improved over the next two years, and last year it exceeded the state averages across the board.

The school’s “Riggs” and “Core Knowledge” curriculums have steep learning curves for teachers and students, Ingram said.
Children starting out in the first grade with it have an easier time with the curriculum, much of which is designed to build on itself, revisiting subjects periodically throughout a child’s time in school.

Now that curriculum is paying off, she said. “It’s a big sigh of relief. The parents are very pleased. You kind of have to prove yourself.”

Credit also goes to Principal Scott Richards and the effort the staff have put into the school, she said.

Sweet Home High School finished below the state averages in reading and writing, while finishing above the state average in science and at the state average in math.

“Some of our test scores were up,” SHHS Principal Pat Stineff said. “I thought that was good. Everything else was pretty good. Our scores in math went up, and that’s one of the things that we’ve been working on.”

She is disappointed about the participation problem and the resulting rating, she said. “We won’t be there next year.”

Last year’s sophomores had an inordinate number in the GED program, Stineff said, and the district is required to track them down and test them too for the participation rating. The district missed a couple of them who were enrolled. One had dropped out, but the ODE counted the student anyway while another took the test but was not counted by the state.

“It’s really hard to tell what your percentage is when you’re trying to chase them down,” Stineff said.

Because of the district’s high number of special education students, nearly 20 percent and five points above the state figure,
the school continues to fail to meet “adequate yearly progress,” Horton said. The designation is federal and also appears in the report card. It doesn’t affect the school because it is not a Title I school.

Finishing so well in math is a little unusual, Horton said. “I applaud the math department. They made some serious changes two years ago, and it appears those changes are paying off.”

One of the things the school is doing in math is making sure students take advantage of opportunities to retest, Stineff said. Students can take the test three times each year. That’s something the school will stress next year in reading as well.
Eighty-three percent of students took the reading test only once. In math, some 46 percent took it a second time, and just 28 percent took it only once.

At the same time, the school has made Algebra I and Geometry three-term classes, Stineff said. The students take the classes all year long, and that helps them improve as the retake the test.

The school’s dropout rate went down, while the graduation rate was all right but still below state average. Attendance improved, and there were no expulsions due to weapons.

Sweet Home Junior High finished at the state average in reading and above the state average in science and math.

Foster finished above state averages in math and science and less than a percentage point behind the state in reading.

Hawthorne finished the year above state averages in reading and science and below in math.

Oak Heights was above state averages in science, at state averages in reading and below state averages in math.