Stephens County Schools receive recognition on a new statewide list.
The Georgia Department of Education recently released its list of “Reward” schools. The list includes schools with the highest performance or the biggest academic gains by students in the last three years when looking at a number of factors, including CRCT scores, EOCT scores, and graduation rates.
Stephens County School Superintendent Sherrie Whiten said that all six Stephens County schools were recognized on one of the two “Reward” school lists released by the state.
“Big A Elementary, Eastanollee Elementary, Liberty Elementary, Toccoa Elementary, and Stephens County Middle School were named reward schools-highest performing, which means they are in the top five percent of Title I schools for performance,” said Whiten. “There were actually 78 schools on that list. Stephens County High School was named a reward school for high progress, which looked at the top ten percent in the state for improvement in performance.”
Whiten went on to say that she feels it is quite an accomplishment to have all of the schools make one of the two “reward” lists.
“We are so thrilled that all six schools were recognized for academic gains and I can tell you it is the result of a lot of hard work on the part of parents, students, staff, everyone,” said Whiten. “Everybody in the school system from the bus drivers, who are often the first folks to see the kids in the morning, to our custodians, who make sure our buildings are clean and safe for kids, takes pride in the role they play in making sure our kids are successful. We are so fortunate for that.”
Officials said that the list stems from the new accountability standards by the state as part of Georgia’s waiver from “No Child Left Behind.”