The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released its school report cards Wednesday, giving school districts a look at how their schools performed.
Here鈥檚 how Burke County Public Schools did.
Meeting, exceeding expectations
The county鈥檚 graduation rate saw a slight uptick, rising to 88.2% from 87.9% last year. That鈥檚 also 1.3 percentage points higher than the state鈥檚 average graduation rate.
Burke Middle College maintained it鈥檚 A grade, and Mull and Salem elementary schools along with Patton and Draughn high schools kept a B grade, according to a release from Burke County Public Schools.
All elementary schools hit their expected growth in reading last year, and six schools exceeded growth in math. Twelve of Burke鈥檚 public schools met their expected growth, and five schools exceeded expected growth. Mull, George Hildebrand and Hillcrest elementary schools along with Draughn and Patton high schools exceeded growth expectations in the 2023-24 school year.
People are also reading…
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be prouder of the achievements of our students and schools,鈥 said Superintendent Mike Swan. 鈥淭hese results released today show gains in our district in reading, our graduation rate and schools meeting or exceeding expected growth. These results are a testament to the dedication of our teachers, the perseverance of our students and the support of our parents and the community.
鈥淲hile there is always room for improvement, these results reflect the hard work and growth we鈥檝e achieved together. We look forward to building on this success in the year ahead.鈥
Cheryl Shuffler, public relations officer for Burke County Public Schools, said the district already has plans for how to build on last year鈥檚 growth.
鈥淲e will continue some interventions we have had in place following COVID to help with learning recovery, including hiring interventionists as tutors (most of whom are retired educators) and continuing with professional development in programs we use to teach math and reading,鈥 Shuffler said. 鈥淲e have identified schools of focus based on data and will be providing monthly supports to those schools.鈥
Room for improvement
Four schools dropped from a B grade to a C grade last year, and another set of schools still are categorized as 鈥渟chools of improvement,鈥 said Assistant Superintendent Karen Auton in the BCPS news release. Five schools received a D grade.
Six schools did not meet expected growth goals last year, according to the state date: East Burke High School, Heritage Middle School, Icard Elementary School, Liberty Middle School, East Burke Middle School and Oak Hill Elementary School.
Shuffler said the school district has plans for remediation and support at those schools.
鈥淥ur instructional coaches will be working with the teachers, the teachers will continue with PLCs or professional learning communities 鈥 which are groups that work together to enhance teaching practices and student learning, the principals will be very involved in the process with things like classroom observations and 鈥渄ata walls鈥 where they regularly look at check-in results to see trends and which students need extra attention,鈥 Shuffler said. 鈥淲e also have an intervention program we call Instructional Rounds where coaches and teachers observe different classrooms and offer suggestions where needed to ensure maximum instruction is taking place.鈥
For the schools that dropped a grade level, Shuffler said schools, directors, principals and instructional coaches and leadership teams will monitor data throughout the year and make changes as needed to see students succeed.