Three county schools make Schools of Distinction
By Dwight Otwell Editor

Cherokee County Schools made a good showing on the NC School Report Cards.

Superintendent Jeanette Hedrick reported to the Cherokee County Board of Education Thursday that the school system met 29 out of 30 No Child Left Behind Adequate Growth goals.

"We looked good on our report card," she said. "If we can get rid of the eight mobile units at Ranger our percentage will go up dramatically on mobile units."

Peachtree Elementary, Ranger Elementary/Middle and Martins Creek Elementary/ Middle were the top achievers in the school system. Each of the three schools made the designation "School of Distinction - High Growth". A School of Distinction means that at least 80 percent of the students performed at grade level.

The Report Cards show that Cherokee County has much smaller schools than the state average. The average elementary enrollment in Cherokee County is 287 compared to 510 for the state. Middle school size is 294 students to 666 in the state. High school enrollment averages 260 in Cherokee County compared to 989 in the state.

Cherokee County gets less local financial support but more state and federal support than the state average. The county school system spends 82 percent of its funds on salaries and benefits and 9 percent on supplies and materials.

In grades three through eight, overall, Cherokee County scored 90.0 compared to 85.5 in reading for the state average. On math, Cherokee County scored 71.4 compared to the state average of 66.4 percent.

Percent of male students in the county who passed both reading and math was 67.3 percent compared to 70.3 percent of females.

Percentage of Cherokee County students who scored at or above grade levels in specific subjects are as follows: English I - 80; Algebra I - 62; Algebra II - 64; Geometry - 74; Biology - 69; Civics and Economics - 71; U.S. History - 51.

In Cherokee County, 100 percent of elementary schools made Adequate Yearly Progress. In middle and high schools, only 50 percent of schools made Adequate Yearly progress.

Over a third of Cherokee County teachers have advanced degrees.

In Cherokee County the percentage of classroom teachers who left their school from the start of the prior year to the start of the current year was 17 percent for elementary, 18 percent for middle and 24 percent for high school.

Report Cards for other elementary and middle schools are as follows:

• Andrews Elementary, School of Progress - High Growth (at least 60 percent of students at grade level)

• Hiwassee Dam Elementary/Middle, School of Progress - Expected Growth

• Marble Elementary, No Recognition (at least 60 to 100 percent of students at grade level)

• Andrews Middle, School of Progress - Expected Growth

• Murphy Elementary, School of Progress - Expected Growth

• Murphy Middle, No Recognition