Hamilton County Schools received 13 reward school designations and seven priority school designations for the 2020-21 school year, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Education released Tuesday.
The district saw declines for both categories compared to the 2018-19 school year, during which the district received 32 reward school designations and nine priority school designations.
Reward schools show overall growth and achievement for all student groups, according to the Department of Education. For the 2017-18 school year, the district had 17 reward schools, and for the 2016-17 year, there were five.
Priority schools, usually identified every three years, have low graduation rates or fall into the bottom 5% of schools in the state without high growth from the previous year. Priority schools were last identified at the end of the 2017-18 school year, and Hamilton County Schools had nine schools identified as priority status that year.
Two Hamilton County Schools, Clifton Hills Elementary and Woodmore Elementary, exited the priority list this year. To exit the list, schools have to meet one of several criteria, such as earning a score of Level 4 or 5 across all areas of the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System for the past two school years, or graduating 67% or more of students for the past two years if the school previously did not meet that threshold.
“At [Hamilton County Schools], we expect excellence in achievement and growth so that all children thrive,” said Nakia Towns, interim superintendent, in a Tuesday news release. “We are extremely proud of our students and teachers for this historic accomplishment. We’ve made great strides in four years, and we look forward to continuing to accelerate our progress as we work toward achieving our Future Ready 2023 goals.”
Contact Anika Chaturvedi at achaturvedi@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592.