HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (Sept. 7, 2017) – Henderson County Public Schools are celebrating continued excellence in student and school performance, following today’s release of the N.C. Department of Instruction’s 2017 state accountability results – which measure academic proficiency and growth, as well as assign school grades.
Henderson County Public Schools is ranked 6th out of 115 public school districts in North Carolina for its overall proficiency composite of 70 percent in 2016-17 – meaning that 70 percent of K-12 students demonstrated proficiency in their grade-level subjects last school year.
Twenty schools (87 percent) met or exceeded growth in academic performance expected by the state, with North Henderson High School seeing the system’s largest individual growth index at 11.64 – the second year in a row the school has had a growth index in the double digits.
Also notable, the Henderson County Early College posted a growth index of 6.78, and Hendersonville High’s growth index was 5.05. Hendersonville Middle led district middle schools by posting a growth index of 4.64, and Atkinson Elementary led elementary schools with a growth index of 3.28 in the 2016-17 school year.
As a whole, district performance showed consistent success in the total percentage of students meeting grade level standards, with an overall proficiency composite of 70 percent.
Academic performance in 6th grade subjects improved in the 2016-17 school year, with Reading improving by 3.1 percentage points, and Math by 2.4 percentage points. High school performance in Math I showed significant improvement, with a 7.2 percentage point increase compared to the 2015-16 school year. English II performance also increased 3.6 percentage points, and the overall performance composite for high school end-of-course scores increased 3.2 percentage points. Additionally, academic performance on the ACT improved by 2.4 percentage points, and by 5.6 percentage points on the ACT WorkKeys.
“Today, we celebrate the hard work of students, teachers, staff, and families,” said Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services Dr. Jan King. “As reflected in the released accountability results, our public schools continue to excel. And while we take a moment to celebrate, we are committed to continuous improvement.”
As of the 2013-14 school year, the N.C. General Assembly requires that schools receive individual letter grades, which are comprised of student achievement (80 percent) and growth (20 percent) on state standardized assessments. Though the state’s detailed School Report Cards are not released by NCDPI until mid-October, each school’s letter grade is included in the September 7 accountability results.
Henderson County Public Schools is now home to one “A+” school, one “A” school, 13 “B” schools, and seven “C” schools.
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