Results of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act measurements are out from the 2013-2014 school year, and show School District 55 with a passing grade. District Superintendent Dr. Billy Strickland told the trustees Monday night “this means we did meet the state requirements, but we are not happy with a C. We do not want to just meet the requirements, we want to exceed them. ”
In individual school scores, Waterloo Elementary School received an A….for the third year in a row. Schools receiving a B on the ESEA results were E.B. Morse, Hickory Tavern, Laurens Elementary and Laurens District 55 High School. Gray-Court Owings School received a C. Receiving a D were Laurens and Sanders Middle Schools and Ford Elementary. The D at Ford does show progress, however – moving up from an F the previous year. Laurens High’s B was an even bigger jump, up from an F.
Other improvements noted for Laurens District High School include a big improvement in the graduation rate, now at 80%. Plus, end-of-course studies testing for had improved grades on Social Studies and Algebra I, now above the state average.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Tara Dean told WLBG that SAT scores for last year’s Senior class were up 23 points for the year.
Two District 55 teachers were recognized this week by the School board as “Social Studies Teachers of Distinction.” They were Jeff Brink, a 7th grade social studies teacher at Hickory Tavern and Jonathan White, social studies teacher from Laurens Middle School.