Among the 115 school districts in North Carolina, Haywood County Schools ranks 11th based upon the district performance composite. This is up from a district ranking of 15th during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years. The performance composite represents a combination of all state tests for schools in each district. Academic growth is a measure of learning during a school year. Growth is given a designation of not met, met or exceeds depending on the amount of progress students made from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.
The initial 2015-16 school performance indicators have been released by the State Board of Education. Initial information was approved and released during the regular September meeting of the State Board of Education. Detailed performance results including individual school report cards are scheduled for release by the state in October. North Carolina has had a school accountability program since 1996. In 2012-13 the state strengthened its accountability model to focus on rigorous career and college readiness standards.
North Carolina’s academic performance model continues a long-standing practice of increasing rigor in curriculum and assessments. The state will continue to report academic growth rates and the percentage of students scoring proficient on state assessments. Growth reflects the progress students made during the school year. Performance standards are higher than in the past, which make it more difficult for some students to reach proficiency. The released school performance indicators are available online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/. The following compares Haywood County Schools to statewide performance.
| Performance Composite | Academic Growth | State Letter Grade | |
| North Carolina | 58.3 | ||
| Haywood County Schools | 66.8 | ||
| Bethel Elementary | 78.1 | Met | B |
| Central Elementary | 60.4 | Met | C |
| Clyde Elementary | 73.3 | Met | B |
| Hazelwood Elementary | 64.9 | Not Met | C |
| Jonathan Valley Elementary | 75.4 | Exceeded | B |
| Junaluska Elementary | 77.9 | Met | B |
| Meadowbrook Elementary | 67.5 | Met | C |
| North Canton Elementary | 72.8 | Met | B |
| Riverbend Elementary | 91.9 | Met | A+ |
| Bethel Middle | 72.3 | Met | B |
| Canton Middle | 63.6 | Not Met | C |
| Waynesville Middle | 61.1 | Not Met | C |
| Central Haywood High | 17.2 | Not Met | NA |
| Haywood Early College | 86.6 | Met | A |
| Pisgah High | 62.1 | Met | B |
| Tuscola High | 56.7 | Not Met | C |
In 2013-14 the state began issuing school letter grades that are based upon 80% of the performance composite and 20% of the growth score. In 2013-14 Haywood County Schools was one of only 8 districts to have no “D” or “F” schools. In 2014-15 and 2015-16 Haywood County Schools remained in the elite group of school districts with no “D” or “F” schools. The number of districts in the category will be calculated and released as additional state data is analyzed. The following chart presents the percentage of schools by letter grade for all North Carolina schools, charter schools and Haywood County Schools.
| Letter Grade | Traditional Public Schools | Public Charter Schools | Haywood County Schools |
| A or A+ | 6.6% | 10.9% | 13.3% |
| B | 25.6% | 29.0% | 46.7% |
| C | 44.9% | 32.35 | 40.0% |
| D | 19.1% | 18.7% | 0% |
| F | 3.8% | 9% | 0% |
“At first glance our academic performance grew slightly as a school system,” said Associate Superintendent Bill Nolte. “We are looking forward to the complete release of state data later this fall. That will tell us how we stacked up with other districts across the state.”
Individual school report cards will be issued by the State Board of Education in October. “We will distribute the report cards when released and use that data to build any plans that we need to improve performance or growth,” said Superintendent Anne Garrett. “We are happy to move from 15th to 11th among the state’s highest performing districts.”
Contact: Dr. Bill Nolte, Associate Superintendent