Department of Education releases school grades

Three Dubois County schools’ accountability grades improved over last year.

After months of delay, the Indiana Department of Education released the 2013 School Accountability Grades this morning. The “A-F” grades were approved by the state school board at a meeting this morning in Indianapolis.

In Northeast Dubois County: Celestine Elementary maintained an A; Northeast Dubois High School maintained an A; Dubois Elementary improved to an A from a C in 2012; Northeast Dubois Middle School dropped to a B from an A in 2012.

In Southwest Dubois County: Pine Ridge maintained an A; Ferdinand Elementary maintained an A; Forest Park Jr./Sr. maintained a B; and Cedar Crest maintained an A.

In Southwest Dubois County: Holland Elementary maintained an A; Huntingburg Elementary maintained an A; Southridge Middle School maintained an A; and Southridge High School maintained a B.

In Greater Jasper Consolidated School Corporation: Jasper High School maintained an A; Jasper Middle School maintained an A; Ireland Elementary maintained an A; Tenth Street Elementary improved to a C from a D in 2012; and Fifth Street also improved to a C from a D in 2012. 

Precious Blood received an A. 

Holy Family School received a B.

Superintendent Glenda Ritz stated in the release with the grades, “I want to thank Indiana’s educators, administrators, parents, and most importantly, students for their patience and countless hours of work over the last academic year. Due to problems caused by the company that administered the ISTEP, these 2012-13 school accountability grades were unfortunately delayed until this point.”

She continued, “Though this current model for calculating school accountability grades will be changing, the data does show that some great learning is occurring in our schools, and I want to congratulate our students for their successes. The 2013-14 school year will be the last year for our current model. As Superintendent, I am excited that our new model for school accountability will measure both student performance and growth in a way that gives our educators, students, and parents the needed information to address each student’s academic needs. The new, more transparent and fair model will be fully operational for the 2014-15 school year.”