Putnam County School Officials pleased with the recently revealed letter grades that showed six Putnam County Schools with an A for the previous school year.
Putnam County Director of Schools Corby King said the grades are a huge accomplishment.
“We continue to see good, strong success in providing opportunities for our students, and we are proud of the work that we are doing every day in all of our schools,” King said.
Avery Trace Middle School saw a major improvement, going from a D to a B. King said he believes the turnaround simply came from having more focus this past year.
“Focus and the determination to raise the expectation, raise the standards, and the students worked with the teachers,” King said. “We’ve got good, strong teachers and leadership at Avery Trace. People who just want to do things, and that’s really in all of our schools, but people want to do things the right way and provide opportunities for students. And then again for students, it’s always a different set, but they dug in, they went to work, and that made a huge difference.”
Upperman Middle School also scored a D last year, which raised concerns for a lot of people. This year, Upperman Middle School received a C. King said the school system always wants to see improvement.
“That’s moving in the right direction,” King said. “They are not satisfied with a C. They will continue working, they will continue pushing, and I expect them, and we hope to see them on the A or B list next year as well.”
Six schools received an A, including Algood Middle School, Burks Elementary, Capshaw Elementary, Cookeville High School, Northeast Elementary, and Prescott South Elementary.
King said there are so many factors that go into achieving an A. King said it takes a lot of hard work from teachers and administrators to make sure they are helping students to the best of their abilities. King said it also takes support from outside of the classroom.
“It takes support from the community, it takes support from students and parents to make sure the kids get to school, to make sure that they do their homework, make sure that they come prepared, ready to learn,” King said.
Algood Elementary, Cane Creek Elementary, Cornerstone Elementary, Jere Whitson Elementary, Monterey High School, Park View Elementary, and Prescott South Middle School all scored a B. King said some of the schools missed an A by tenths of a point. Upperman High School received a C, while the VITAL (Remote School) scored a D.
Kuing said he hopes to continue improving all of the scores this year.