North Carolina schools have received their 2015-2016 School Report Cards, which provide school performance grades and data on student achievement, school safety and technology, teacher quality, and more.
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts Real Estate Experts will publish covering North Carolina School Report Card results for school districts throughout Triangle.
According to Wake County Schools’ Report Card data, more students are passing state exams and graduating from high school this year. For the 2015-16 school year, the percentage of Wake County students that passed state exams in math, reading, and science rose to 67.9 percent from 66.8 percent the previous school year. Wake County Schools are well above the NC statewide proficiency rate of 58.3 percent.
Other encouraging news: the district’s graduation rate rose a full percentage point to 87.1 percent (compared to the statewide graduation rate of 85.8 percent). Half of Wake County Schools’ 26 high schools have a graduation rate above 90 percent, and 18 high schools’ graduation rates increased in 2015-16. Two Raleigh high schools, Sanderson and Enloe, had the highest jumps in graduation. Sanderson’s graduation rate rose 7.7 percentage points to 89.1 percent, while Enloe’s graduation rate rose 7.5 percentage points to 89 percent.At Raleigh’s Sanderson High School, 89 percent of seniors are graduating. “We’re addressing this issue really at the ninth-grade level and not really just taking a look at the seniors,” said Sanderson Principal Dr. Greg Decker. “We’re trying to be much more proactive than reactive.”
Wake County Superintendent Jim Merrill.
“Our graduation rate continues moving in the right direction, thanks to the hard work and perseverance of our teachers, staff, students, and parents,” said Wake Superintendent Jim Merrill. “As educators, we know the work is never finished. So we have recommitted ourselves to building on this progress as we continue to close in on our goal that, by 2020, we will annually graduate at least 95 percent of our students, ready for higher education or a career.”
Wake County also saw advancement in the number of schools meeting academic growth targets on state exams, with 68 percent meeting or exceeding growth expectations, up from 61 percent last year. According to Report Card data, Wake saw improvement on school performance letter grades, as well. Ten Wake County Public Schools received an A+, eight received an A, 66 received a B, 68 received a C, 14 received a D, and one an F.
Wake County schools that received an A include Apex High, Brassfield Elementary, Cedar Fork Elementary, Davis Drive Elementary, Davis Drive Middle, Green Hope Elementary, Green Hope High, Highcroft Elementary, Holly Grove Elementary, Holly Springs High, Jones Dairy Elementary, Leesville Road High, Lufkin Road Middle, Mills Park Elementary, Mills Park Middle, Morrisville Elementary, Panther Creek High, and Sycamore Creek Elementary.
Stay tuned for our next post in this series, which will cover the Charter School Report Cards.
You can also search the comprehensive database provided on our website to see the grades schools received over the last three years and whether the school exceeded, met or did not meet its expected academic growth.