The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh has released the 2016 School Report Cards. Bladen County Schools saw some improvement over last year.
“Our report cards reflect where we are as a district. They show us the areas where we need to keep improving,” said Bladen Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor.
He added the school system is doing well with the resources that are available. Taylor said the math scores need to improve across the district. Taylor said one way the district plans to do that is with the introduction of a new math curriculum called Engage New York which is being provided to teachers.
He added there were no real surprises as far as the scores. One school that showed great improvement was Elizabethtown Middle School.
“Elizabethtown Middle School has done a tremendous job,” said Taylor.
The school was an “F” school last year and has improved to a “D” school and students met exceeded expected growth.
“Even though they are a “D” school they have done a tremendous job,” said Taylor.
Taylor said East Arcadia was the only “F” grade in the county and they had digressed in their scores. He added that was in large part due to vacancies among the faculty.
“We are providing direct support to East Arcadia to help improve,” said Taylor.
He added a community meeting had been scheduled in October but with Hurricane Matthew and its aftermath, the meeting had to be postponed and new meeting date has not been set.
Taylor said Bladen County Schools has moved out of District Improvement status because the district has reduced the number of schools that have been identified as “low performing.” He added the entire school performance grading system can be difficult for parents to understand.
“The way to truly measure a school is for the parents to determine how satisfied they are with the teacher and the work their child is doing,” said Taylor.
Grades for each school were as follows:
Booker T. Washington received a “C” and met expected growth;
Bladen Lakes Primary received a “D” and met expected growth;
Bladenboro Middle School received a “D” and did not meet expected growth;
Bladenboro Primary received a “D” grade and did not meet expected growth;
Clarkton School of Discovery received a “C” grade and met expected growth;
Dublin Primary School received a “C” grade and did not meet expected growth;
East Arcadia School received the only “F” grade in the county and met expected growth;
Elizabethtown Middle School received a “D” grade and exceeded growth;
Elizabethtown Primary School received a “D” grade and exceeded growth;
Plain View Primary received a “C” grade and met expected growth;
Tar Heel Middle received a “D” grade and exceeded growth;
West Bladen High School received a “C” grade and met growth;
East Bladen High School received a “D” grade and did not meet expected growth.
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