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Report card day. For some students, it's a chance to get excited about how well they've been doing; for others, it's a day met with dread, as they are confronted with how much room for improvement they face.
The same is true for school districts in Ohio, as the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's annual school report cards mean validation and celebration for some, and a reminder it's time for others to make some significant adjustments.
In Washington County, students are in school districts that received the full range of scores.
Fort Frye Local School Superintendent Stephanie Starcher had every right to be thrilled with the district's overall 5-star rating.
“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.”
Good. It shows.
The Washington County Joint Vocation School District maintained its 5-star performance. Warren Local remains strong at 4 stars. Belpre City Schools is on an upswing, moving up to 3.5 stars, with a clear understanding of where the work needs to take place.
“We hope that improves even more,” said Superintendent Jeff Greenley. “Twenty-five percent chronic absenteeism is still not where we would want to be as far as a goal.”
Importantly Greenley also noted, "we believe that content acquisition is important but so is developing creativity, communication, critical thinking and cultivating integrity.”
Those are important goals for our kids as well.
But alongside the celebration there is also cause for introspection in districts such as Marietta City, Wolf Creek and Frontier Local, which all maintained or dropped to a 3-star rating.
In fact, some individual schools in those districts received an alarming ONE star in some categories, indicating they need "significant support to meet state standards."
Sure, annual report card-style assessment of school districts are not a perfect way to determine how well they are educating and preparing our students. But they are the measure we have, and they DO give a general idea of who is getting the job done and who has a LOT to figure out.
Congratulations to those who are now tasked with continuing their momentum for our kids' sake. For the rest: Our children and communities deserve to know YOU are taking seriously the need to build your own momentum, too.