CHCCS Remains Near Top; OCS Sees Growth in State School Grades

Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools remained among the top school districts in the state and Orange County Schools improved on last year’s numbers in the latest school grades.

The school grades were released on Thursday by the state Board of Education and are based primarily on standardized tests. A smaller portion of the calculation is also based on student growth from one year to the next.

CHCCS met or exceeded growth in 83 percent of schools across the district. That number is up from 72 percent last year and is above the state average of 73.6 percent from last year.

CHCCS also excelled with 89 percent of schools receiving an A or B grade from the state, compared with 83.3 percent from the previous school year. Statewide, 32.2 percent of traditional public schools and 40 percent of charter schools received an A or B letter grade.

The statewide graduation rate reached an all-time high at 85.8 percent. The CHCCS graduation rate was 90.2 percent, down from 91 percent the previous year.

The overall number of grade level proficient students in Orange County Schools jumped from 59 percent in 2014-2015 to 62 percent. That is above the state average of 58 percent. OCS also moved up in the district rankings from 36 to 27.

Efland-Cheeks Global Elementary School outscored its grade from last year by 12 points, good enough to go from a D to C letter grade. That improvement means OCS has no “Low Performing Schools” as identified by the state.

Also, no OCS schools dropped a letter grade from last year.

You can see the full grades from the state here.

CHCCS interim superintendent Dr. Jim Causby released a statement on the district’s performance.

“We are very pleased to see that our students are learning and growing. This is a wonderful testament to the great work of our teachers, and the tremendous support of our parents and community. However, the data shows that we still have plenty of room for improvement. We will come back to work tomorrow, and the next day, striving to help every student reach maximum potential.”

OCS superintendent Dr. Todd Wirt issued the following statement.

“I am very proud of our students and staff for their hard work and dedication as well as their openness to change. While we are encouraged by the gains we have made, we are more focused than ever on improving academic achievement for all of our students and working toward closing of achievement gaps that have persisted for too long.”

CHCCS Remains Near Top; OCS Sees Growth in State School Grades

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