Fort Frye, Washington County JVSD earn 5-star ratings
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MARIETTA - Fort Frye Local Schools and Washington County Joint Vocational School District received an overall 5 stars of the Ohio Department of Education and workforce's report card.
For the Washington County Joint Vocational School District, this is a continuation of previous years, but for Fort Frye Local Schools this is a new achievement.
Warren Local Schools was close behind with an overall 4-star rating, followed by Belpre City Schools with an overall 3.5 and Marietta, wolf Creek and Frontier Local Schools all receiving 3-star ratings.
Six components measure the traditional school districts: Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation, Early Literacy and College, Career, workforce and Military Readiness or CCWM Readiness. Meanwhile Washington County JVSD's score is measure by four components - Achievement, Career and Post-Secondary Readiness, Graduation Rate and Post-Program Outcomes.
The Ohio Department of Education and workforce website states that the report cards are released to provide individuals with students in the district as well as educators and legislators with information about each district and to offer transparency about school systems.
Fort Frye Local Schools
Fort Frye received an overall rating of 5 stars and according to the report card it means the district significantly exceeds state standards. The district managed to maintain an overall rating of 4 and 5 in every category with Graduation, Gap Closing and CCWM Readiness in 5 while Progress, Achievement and Early Literacy received 4-star ratings.
Additionally, the district was able to lower chronic absenteeism rate even further from last year's 10.7% to 9.4%. Superintendent Stephanie Starcher said insuring the attendance of students doesn't just fall on one individual, it's a group responsibility.
"Attendance truly is an individualized thing...we do lots of home visits to verify the safety and whereabouts of kids if they're not showing up," Starcher said. "It is a huge team effort - the secretaries and teachers play a huge role in it as well."
Salem-Liberty Elementary School saw significant growth in progress from previous years, jumping from a 3 to a 5 in Progress, which earned the elementary school a 5 star rating.
Fort Frye Middle School also saw growth after receiving an overall 3.5 the year prior to 4 for this report card. This was done by advancements in not only focusing on students struggling, but also with extra attention provided to high-performing students, according to Starcher.
Starcher said the 5-star overall rating is not only on the work of the educators in the district, but also that of the students and their families.
"I don't have the words to describe the gratitude to the students, families and staff. I'm just really proud of their effort," Starcher said. "We often say excellence is non-negotiable - we're always looking to improve, and that's a mindset and a culture we want to continue to build on."
Belpre City Schools
Belpre City Schools received an overall rating of 3.5 stars, an increase from the district's 3-star ratings last year. Improvements included Progress, Gap Closing and Early Literacy boosting from 2 to 3 stars, while maintaining 3-star ratings in Achievement and CCWM Readiness. The district's graduation component, however, declined from 3 to 2 stars.
Belpre Superintendent Jeffrey Greenley said state tests are an important part of evaluating students but do not reflect very skill the district hopes to foster in students. Greenley stated that Belpre is a "Portrait of a Graduate" school, which is an education framework that focuses on skills, competencies and character traits students may need to succeed in college, careers and modern life.
"Ohio's report card really reflects the performance that kids do on Ohio state tests, and so that is one important factor," Greenley said. "But Belpre...we believe that content acquisition is important but so is developing creativity, communication, critical thinking and cultivating integrity."
Belpre Elementary School's overall rating increased from 3.5 to 4 stars. Its Early Literacy component rose from 2 to 3 stars, while the school maintained 3-stars in achievement and gap closing and 4-stars in progress. Belpre High School remained at 3 stars overall with Achievement and Gap Closing receiving 3 stars while Progress and Graduation received 2 stars. Its CCWM Readiness rating declined from 4 to 3 stars.
Greenely said high school staff and faculty members will begin reviewing seniors' progress toward graduation earlier in the year. The district's chronic absenteeism rate declined from 33% to 25.2%. Greenley attributed the improvement to a new tracking and protocol system, early communication with families and work by the district's administrative team.
"We hope that improves even more," Greenely said. "Twenty-five percent chronic absenteeism is still not where we would want to be as far as a goal." Belpre Blue Sky Academy, which serves a small and changing group of online students, declined from 5 to 2.5 stars. Greenley said the program serves fewer than five or six students, with enrollment changing as students move between online and in-person instruction and typically serves students who are handling outside life pressures such as severe illness. Warren Local Schools
Warren Local Schools maintained its overall rating of 4 stars. The district received 4 stars in Achievement and Gap Closing, 2 stars in progress, 3 stars in early literacy and 5 stars in CCWM Readiness.
The district's Graduation component declined from 5 to 4 stars, although its four-year graduation rate was 97.6%. Chronic absenteeism also improved from 16% to 14.1%.
Warren Elementary School received an overall rating of 4.5 stars, down from 5 stars last year. The school maintained 4 stars in Achievement, 5 stars in Progress and Gap Closing and 3 stars in Early Literacy.
Warren High School also kept its 4-star rating with the school achieving 5 stars in Gap Closing and CCWM Readiness, 4 stars in Graduation, 3 stars in Achievement and 2 in Progress. Graduation had a 5-star rank the year prior.
The district was not immediately available for comment.
Marietta City Schools
Marietta City Schools kept the rating of 3-stars with a 3-star award in Achievement, 2 in Progress, Early Literacy and Gap Closing, 5 In Graduation and 4 in CCWM Readiness.
Graduation improved for the district going from a 3-star rating to 5-star, its four-year graduation rating climbing to 98.4%. Early literacy also improved from 1 to 2 stars. Gap closing, however, declined from 4 to 2 stars. Marietta High School improved from 3.5 to 4 stars overall. Its Graduation component increased from 3 to 5 stars. It received 3 stars in Achievement, Progress and Gap Closing while CCWM Readiness received 4 stars.
Marietta Elementary School remained at 2.5 stars overall with the school receiving 4 stars in Gap Closing and 2 stars in Achievement, Progress and Early Literacy. The Early Literacy rating increased from 1 star last year.
Both Phillips and Washington Elementary Schools received an overall rating of 1-star, with both schools receiving 1-star ratings in Gap Closing and Early Literacy. While Washington's ranking has not changed since the previous report card, Phillips' report dropped from an overall 3.5 after previously receiving a 4-star ranking in Gap Closing and 1-star in Early Literacy.
The district was not immediately available for comment.
Frontier Local Schools
Frontier Local schools had an overall rating of 3 stars. The district received 3 stars in Achievement and Early Literacy, 1 in Progress, 2 in Gap Closing, 5 in Graduation and 4 in CCWM Readiness.
Graduation increased from 3 to 5 stars and the district reported a 100% four-year graduation rate. Gal Closing declined from 3 to 2 stars.
Frontier's chronic absenteeism rate rose from 26.3% to 27.7%.
Frontier High and Middle School maintained its overall rating of 3 stars with the school ranking 2 stars in Achievement, Progress and Gap Closing, 5 in Graduation and 4 in CCWM readiness. Its graduation rating increased from 4 to 5 stars while Gap Closing and CCWM readiness declined by 1 star each.
Matamoras Elementary School declined from 3 to 2 stars overall. Its Progress and Gap Closing bot received 1-star rankings while Achievement and Early Literacy received 2-star rankings.
Newport Elementary School's overall rating declined from a 4- to 3-star ranking. It maintained 3 stars in Achievement, while Progress and Gap Closing both fell to 2 stars. Early Literacy rose from last year's ranking of 3 stars to 4.
The district was not immediately available for comment.
Wolf Creek Local Schools
Wolf Creek Local Schools received an overall rating of 3 stars, down from 3.5 last year. The district receive 3 stars in Achievement and Gap Closing, 1 in Progress, 5 in Graduation and CCWM Readiness and 2 in Early Literacy.
Wolf Creek's chronic absenteeism rate improved from 14% to 13.1%, the second-lowest rate among the tradition districts included in the report.
Waterford Elementary School received an overall rating of 3 stars, down from 3.5 last year. The school received 3 stars in Achievement and 2 in Progress. The district also raised Gap Closing from a 3- to 4-star ranking, while the 2 in Early Literacy was down from last year's 5-star rating.
Waterford High School maintained its overall rating of 4 stars. The school received 3 stars in Achievement and Progress, 2 in Gap Closing and 5 in Graduation and CCWM Readiness. Progress improved from 2 to 3 stars, while Gap Closing declined from 3 to 2.
The district was not immediately available for comment.
Washington County Joint Vocational School District
Comprised of the Washington County Career Center, the district received maintained its streak of 5 star overall ratings. The career-technical planning district received 4 stars in Achievement and 5 stars in Career and Post-Secondary Readiness, Graduation and Post-Program Outcomes. Those component ratings were unchanged from last year.
The district was not immediately available for comment.
Key terms
* Achievement – A measure of how well students performed on state tests.
* Progress – A measure of the growth students are making based on their past performance.
* Gap Closing – A measure of the reduction in educational gaps for student groups.
* Graduation – The measure of the percentage of students that graduate within 4 or 5 years.
* Early Literacy – A measure of reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade.
* College, Career, workforce and Military Readiness – A measure of how prepared Ohio's students are for future opportunities.
Ranking information as defined by the Ohio Department of Education:
* 1-star – Needs significant support to meet state standards.
* 2-star – Needs support to meet state standards.
* 3-star – Meets the state standard.
* 4-star – Exceeds state standards.
* 5-star – Significantly exceeds state standards.