NORTHWEST FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICTS EARN TOP GRADES

Just another great example for people to move to Northwest Florida!!!!!


SCHOOL DISTRICTS EARN TOP GRADES
By RACHEL KYLER rachelk@nafdailynews.com

While Florida schools earned more A’s and B’s than ever, school districts in Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties boast a total of 67 A-rated schools this year. Of the 2,889 state schools graded this year, nearly 75 percent, or 2,125, are considered high performing — receiving a grade of “A” or “B.” Okaloosa had 35 A’s, 3 B’s and 1 C, giving the district the third highest score in the state. Monroe and Brevard counties were the only school districts that scored higher. “There’s a lot of good teaching and great learning going on in this school district,” said Okaloosa Superintendent of Schools Alexis Tibbetts. Santa Rosa County had 21 A’s, 3 B’s and 3 C’s. Walton County had 11 A’s, 1 B and 1 C. Freeport High School in Walton County made the most significant gains locally, moving from a D to an A this year. “I’m very proud of their performance,” said Walton County Superintendent of Schools Carlene Anderson. With more than 85 percent of Walton schools making A’s, “it shows the success of our students under our principals’ leadership,” Anderson said. Anderson said there is still work to be done to target specific subgroups, but “overall, we’re very excited,” she said. In Okaloosa, three secondary schools moved up a letter grade. Fort Walton Beach and Crestview high schools and Laurel Hill School moved from B’s to A’s. However, Choctawhatchee High School fell from an A to B. Principal Cindy Massarelli-Gates said the drop is related to not moving lowest performing students far enough ahead. For the first time in six years, the lowest performing students dropped below the 50 percent proficiency mark. “We’re of course disheartened, but we’re going to look at every student and every class,” Massarelli-Gates said. With 21 A’s, Santa Rosa County Superintendent of Schools John Rogers said he is “just proud as I can be.” “Every school in the county worked hard enough to receive an A … it was not a lack of effort,” he said. For Rogers, reviewing this year’s grades has been bittersweet. He is retiring in the fall, and even with all the pressures, “there’s a part of me that will miss all of this yet,” he said. Educators say that making “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) continues to be a challenge for many schools in Florida. Florida was recently selected to participate in the federal Differentiated Accountability pilot program, which provides more flexibility for Title I schools in the type of corrective actions they need to implement. Through the program, Title I schools that consecutively fail to make AYP will be placed into three main improvement levels based on the school’s letter grade, percentage of AYP requirements met, and the number of years it has not made AYP.

Daily News Staff Writer Rachel Kyler can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1440.
Freeport High School showed the most dramatic improvement among local schools, moving from a grade of D to an A when Florida school grades were released Tuesday.