Stewart County schools report improved letter grades; one reward school named

Stewart County — The Stewart County School District presented state accountability letter grades for each school, reporting system-wide improvement and one school designated as a state reward school.

Director’s overview: Mike, the district’s director of schools, told the board the district received the new letter grades issued by the state and reviewed how the accountability formula is calculated. He said the statewide system combines achievement and growth metrics differently for K–8 and high schools and noted the district’s composite, literacy and numeracy measures.

School-level results and context - Dover Elementary: Received a B, unchanged from the previous year. The presenter said Delrail Elementary (reported separately) was “one tenth of a point from being an A” and also qualified as a state reward school for high performance. - North Stewart Elementary: Improved from a C last year to a B this year; staff cited a success rate of about 42.5 percent and an achievement score of 4. - Stewart County Middle School: Improved from a C to a B, with the district noting it had the most improvement across the schools in a single year. - Stewart County High School: Improved from a C to a B; the director observed the school was “two tenths from being a 5 in college career ready” and said the statewide median for the college- and career-ready indicator is 3.3 while Stewart County’s number was higher.

System summary and next steps The district reported system-wide literacy scored a 4 and numeracy a 5; science was identified as an area needing further focus. The director told the board the district will adopt a new science curriculum in the upcoming year and continue efforts to raise outcomes for the lowest-performing students.

No formal action was taken beyond the presentation. The director and principals were commended for improvements and the board encouraged continued focus on curriculum changes and accountability strategies.