Christian County Public Schools officials will spend a few moments to celebrate, reflect and regroup following revelation of some strong accountability marks from the Kentucky Department of Education concerning 2022-23.
Using a color-coded system from red (meaning danger) to blue (meaning perfection) — and a recently-released mathematical shift in change scoring and the overall rubric — CCPS can boast the following highlights:
1) Seven of eight elementary schools trended upward, with Indian Hills earning the district’s overall best score with a green 75.4. Freedom Elementary not only earned the district’s biggest leap from a red 27.8 in 2022 to an orange 50.8 in 2023, but they moved out of comprehensive support and improvement status. Sinking Fork, last year’s top school in the district, maintained its standard.
2) Four of the district’s 12 schools, including Indian Hills, earned a green distinction, which is just below blue: Crofton Elementary, South Christian Elementary, and Pembroke Elementary.
3) The entire district moved out of targeted support and improvement (TSI) for African American students, and three schools moved out of TSI for students with disabilities.
4) And in all five elementary school content areas (reading, mathematics, social studies, science and writing), proficiency scores increased, and novice scores decreased.
Other victories can be championed, as well, including a blue distinction for both Hopkinsville High School and Christian County High School in postsecondary readiness, and both of those campuses moving from an overall orange to yellow status.
CCPS Superintendent Chris Bentzel cited several reasons for the complete growth. Chiefly among them, however, is a young leadership core within the crew of principals.
Bentzel further noted that Christian County’s big picture for education, especially over the next six years, should be even clearer with this new data in hand.
Leslie Lancaster, principal for Freedom, reported she’s been able to move forward from 15 emergency certified teachers to zero in the last 12 months, and that students — most of them low-income — have only rallied around a growing culture of belief and willpower.
She also made it clear: her move from Sinking Fork to across the district was of her own volition. And her students, despite barriers mentioned by Bentzel and District Assessment Coordinator Zachary Hibbs, can seize opportunity.
Sara Sweeney Johnson, principal for Indian Hills, was naturally emotional following the news. While considerable targeted KDE data has been available for all public districts since the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, the complete unfolding of information this week only confirmed the work put in over the last 12 months.
However, not everything was perfect in KDE’s annual assessment. Namely, Christian County Middle School and Hopkinsville Middle School slightly decreased in overall scores and remained in the orange, and didn’t see much net change in several categories.
With elementary and secondary surging, the middle of the education sandwich can be forgotten. Assistant Superintendent Jessica Addison, formerly an instructional specialist with the KDE, said this hasn’t been, nor will be, the case in the days ahead.
Hibbs and Addison both noted that CCPS, and many other districts in the Commonwealth, are hoping cut scores for the grading remain the same over the next six years, because it will allow teachers and administrators the chance to grasp at static benchmarks.
CHRISTIAN COUNTY: https://www.kyschoolreportcard.com/organization/5538?year=2023
