Mixed Grade Report: 3 Schools Improve, 3 Drop

SEBRING - Highlands County public schools continue to fall within a wide range, A to D, on the state school report card.

Among the district's 15 schools, three had a lower grade, but three improved upon last year's grade, according to the accountability grades released Tuesday by the Florida Department of Education.

On the bright side, three schools maintained an A grade - Lake Country and Lake Placid elementary schools and Sebring Middle School.

Sebring Middle earned its seventh A in eight years.

"We are very excited about that," Sebring Middle Principal Sandi Whidden said. "The secret is having the best staff in the county, that's my opinion, and they work wonders with these children."

The school has very supportive and cooperative parents and that helps, she added.

The school grades are based on a point system with schools being awarded one point for each percent of students who score high on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and/or make annual learning gains.

The district's grade improved from a C to a B based on an overall increase in points earned by the schools.

The schools that improved their grade are: Park Elementary (C to A), Hill-Gustat Middle (B to A) and Lake Placid Middle (C to B).

The schools that went down in grade are: Avon Elementary (A to C), Cracker Trail Elementary (A to B) and Sun 'N Lake Elementary (A to B).

Cracker Trail missed an A by one point.

Also, though Avon Park and Lake Placid high schools earned enough points to improve to a C grade, the schools fell short of the reading learning gains requirement, which is 50 percent. That penalized the schools one letter grade resulting in their D grades.

Lake Placid High missed the 50 percent requirement by only one point.

Avon Park Middle maintained a C grade.

Dan Johnson, Avon Park Middle principal, said, "we made a C two years in a row, I want to see if we made a numerically higher grade."

Primarily due to improvement in three reading categories, the school did in fact improve from 440 points in 2007 to 467 points in 2008. The minimum point total for a B grade is 495 points.

"I wish we had an A, but we are working hard here and putting a lot of effort in what we do here," Johnson said. "We've got good kids and they're trying. We're going to drop back and plan and see how we can do better next year."

Three schools earned the federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) designation - Avon, Cracker Trail and Lake Country elementary schools.

Required as a part of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, AYP measurements target the performance and participation of various student subgroups on statewide assessments based on race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability and English proficiency.

Florida has more schools earning A's and B's than ever before, according to the 2008 school grades.

Of the 2,889 schools graded this year, nearly three quarters (2,125) are considered to be high performing (receiving either an A or B grade).

The statewide grade totals, according to the FDOE, follows:

•1,583 earned an A (55 percent), an increase of 100 schools compared to last year.

•542 earned a B (19 percent), an increase of 73 schools compared to last year.

•565 earned a C (20 percent), a decrease of 22 schools compared to last year.

•154 earned a D (5 percent), a decrease of 62 schools compared to last year.

•45 earned an F (2 percent), a decrease of 38 schools compared to last year.

Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com