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State lauds 23 schools
Recognized as high achieving
School WEB 1
Sha Wortman works Thursday with a small group of Silver City Elementary students including from left, Madison Winship, Victoria Culp, Ansley Sabella and Baily Cole. The school was one of many from across the county recognized by the state for high achievement. - photo by Jim Dean

At a glance

The following is a breakdown of the Forsyth County schools
recognized by the state as high achieving.

Platinum: Big Creek, Daves Creek, Johns Creek, Sharon and Vickery Creek elementaries; and Riverwatch and South Forsyth middle schools

Must earn AYP for three consecutive years, more than 35 percent of students must exceed standards and 98 percent or more must meet and exceed standards.

Gold: Brookwood, Haw Creek, Settles Bridge and Shiloh Point elementaries; Lakeside Middle; and Lambert and West Forsyth high schools

Must earn AYP for two consecutive years, more than 30 percent of students must exceed standards and 97 percent or more must meet and exceed standards.

Silver: Matt Elementary; and Liberty, North Forsyth and Vickery Creek middle schools

Must earn AYP for three consecutive years, more than 25 percent of students must exceed standards and 96 percent or more must meet and exceed standards.

Bronze: Mashburn, Silver City and Whitlow elementaries; Piney Grove Middle; and South Forsyth High

No needs improvement status, more than 20 percent of students must exceed standards and 95 percent or more must meet and exceed standards.

 

Source: Forsyth County Schools

Twenty-three of the 259 schools the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement recognized this week as high achieving are from Forsyth County.

“I continue to be humbled by the outstanding work of the educators in our district,” said Forsyth County School Superintendent Buster Evans.

“This year, with 23 recipients, we celebrate with the largest number of schools that we’ve ever had to receive recognition under this program.”

Last year, 22 local schools received the designation, with 17 the year before.

Silver City, Mashburn and Whitlow elementary schools were new to this year’s list, which is based on performance on state curriculum exams and adequate yearly progress, or AYP, status for the 2010-11 school year.

Results from the Criterion Referenced Competency Test, or CRCT, and Georgia’s high school graduation test are used to assess performance.

Lissa Pijanowski, the school system’s associate superintendent for academics and accountability, said the recognition is based on “performance in all four core content areas — reading/English language arts, math, science and social studies.”

“The fact that 23 of our schools were recognized is evidence that our hardworking teachers and students combined with district’s Investing in Education Excellence is a winning combination,” she said.

As a result of its IE2 contract, the system is allowed more freedom from state mandates in exchange for increased accountability.

“Giving our educators the flexibility to do what is right for students, while maintaining high standards has proven to be sound educational practice,” said Pijanowski of the program.

The district had seven platinum, seven gold, four silver and five bronze winners.

The tiered system is based on how many years the schools have made adequate progress and the percentage of students who met and exceeded testing standards.

Johns Creek Elementary and Riverwatch Middle rose from gold to platinum.

During his announcement, Gov. Nathan Deal congratulated the schools for “their commitment to hard work and high academic standards.”

“The principals and teachers of these schools are to be commended for maintaining a focus on providing every student with a world-class education,” he said.