Davie County Schools reported multiple academic gains for the 2024–25 school year at its Oct. 17 board meeting, including a district 4-year cohort graduation rate of 91.2%, five schools that exceeded state growth expectations and strong math performance at middle school grades.

Accountability director Mr. Pruitt presented the results and positioned them as an “academic state of our schools,” noting that growth accounts for 20% of school grades while achievement makes up about 80%. He said district-level end-of-grade proficiency for tested grades rose to 60.7% from earlier years, which placed the district 19th in North Carolina and first in its regional comparison. At the high school level overall proficiency was reported at 51.6% and the district ranked in the top 48% of districts statewide for that measure. “I kinda view this report as an academic state of our schools,” Pruitt said.

Pruitt highlighted middle-school math gains: Davie ranked fourth in the state for grade 8 math and posted top-25 state rankings in several other grades. The district’s WorkKeys/ACT-combined measure was 59.3% and early-course rigor (students completing Math 3) exceeded the state requirement at over 95% participation. Pruitt also noted English learner progress has more than doubled since a low point in 2022–23.

The board heard that 10 schools met or exceeded growth overall (up from seven four years earlier) and that two schools exited low-performing status; one school was newly labeled low-performing based on the 2024–25 results. Under state law the board will act at a future meeting (Nov. 4) on certain required items for schools designated low-performing, including approval of improvement plans and principal retention decisions.

Principals from the cited schools presented improvement priorities. Cornerstone (presented in the meeting as Kornetzer Elementary) principal Cheryl Reaves outlined a three-year improvement plan with an immediate focus on strengthening Tier 1 instruction, protecting instructional minutes (for example, shifting some family events to non-instructional times) and implementing targeted interventions to raise proficiency; she said the school has set one-year proficiency targets tied to grade-level professional learning team goals and a longer-range goal of 80% proficiency in reading, math and science.

Superintendent Dr. Belcher and board members praised staff and principals for the gains and emphasized continuing work on reading and high-school math where gaps remain.