Newton schools show improvement from 2015 to 2016

The Newton Community School District Board discussed the 2016 Iowa School Report Card at Monday night’s regular meeting. Most of Newton’s public schools improved from 2015 to 2016, according to the Iowa Department of Education report, which was released earlier this month.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary received a rating of “high-performing,” which is the second highest rank attainable through the report card. Only 12 percent of elementary schools in the state fell into this category in 2016. Thomas Jefferson also achieved a high-performing mark in 2015.

Newton’s other elementary schools — Aurora Heights, Berg and Woodrow Wilson — were rated “commendable” in 2016. Commendable elementaries made up 34 percent of the performance distribution. Aurora Heights, Berg and Woodrow Wilson all improved from an “acceptable” rating in 2015.

Berg Middle School dropped from commendable to acceptable. However, the school’s performance breakdown was not far off its 2015 levels. Forty-three percent of middle schools received an acceptable rating in the recent report. Twenty-two percent of middle schools in the state fell below the acceptable mark.

Newton High School jumped from acceptable in 2015 to commendable in 2016. In the high school category, NHS joined 29 percent of schools in Iowa.

Superintendent of Schools Bob Callaghan said results of the report reflected the hard work and commitment from the students and staff. He said the district puts kids first, and the report card is a way for people to see the results of hard work in something that is tangible.

“It’s a good representation of how hard everybody has been working,” Callaghan said. “It’s just a positive. It’s an uplifter.”

According to the Department of Education, the Iowa School Report Card is a system used to show how each public school is performing on certain educational measures. Schools receive a score for each measure, and then the scores are combined into an overall score. The overall score determines whether a school is exceptional, high-performing, commendable, acceptable, needs improvement or priority.

The categories the schools are graded on include: proficiency, college and career-ready growth, closing achievement gaps, annual expected growth, college and career readiness, graduation rate, attendance, staff retention and parent involvement teacher survey. A few of the categories do not apply to elementary and middle schools.

Contact Justin Jagler at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jjagler@newtondailynews.com