For the City-Times

The Stevens Point Area Public Schools  released its District and schools’ report cards today, noting that all of the District’s schools received classifications of “meets” or “exceeds” expectations, on the state-issued school report cards.  

The report cards, which were first issued by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) last year, are intended to create a more standardized methodology for parents and community members to determine the effectiveness of their local schools.

The report cards include outcomes in four priority areas: student achievement (which measures the level of knowledge and skills among students in the school, compared to state and national standards); student growth (which describes how much student knowledge of reading and mathematics in the school changes from year to year); closing gaps (which shows how the performance of student groups experiencing statewide gaps in achievement and graduation is improving in the school and on-track to graduation) and; postsecondary readiness (which indicates the success of students in the school in achieving educational milestones that predict postsecondary success).

Based on a combined score in each of these four areas, Bannach, Madison, Plover-Whiting, Washington, Roosevelt, McKinley, P.J. Jacobs and Ben Franklin Junior High Schools met expectations.  Jefferson, Kennedy and McDill Elementary Schools, and Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASP achieved the rating of exceeded expectations.

“We are pleased to see that all our schools did well on this year’s school report cards,” said Dr. Attila J. Weninger, Superintendent.  “We are especially proud of Jefferson Elementary School for its third year School of Recognition Award and who “beat the odds”; Kennedy, which continues to excel building upon its National Blue Ribbon success, and SPASH, which as our flagship school brings all District students together at a critical point in their lives.  We are proud of the commitment to our schools by parents, and we are particularly proud of our staff and students for their commitment to excellence. .  Through our District Goals and Objectives, and other academic initiatives, we will persist in our continuous improvement efforts so that we can achieve even greater results in the future.  Every school in our District is capable of exceeding standards and more, and we have the teachers, students, staff, parents, and community to do it.  Of that I am confident.”

More information about the report cards, including individual report cards for each of the district’s schools can be found on the Department of Public Instruction website, http://acct.dpi.wi.gov/acct_accountability.