Haywood County Schools ranks 11th (top ten percent) among the state’s 115 school districts, based upon the district performance composite. This is the same overall rank from 2015-16 and 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 2016-17 school performance indicators were released by the State Board of Education earlier today. The released school performance indicators are available online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/reporting/. The school performance 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 December. 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 following compares Haywood County Schools to statewide performance.
| Performance Composite | Academic Growth | State Letter Grade | |
| North Carolina | 59.2 | ||
| Haywood County Schools | 68.0 | ||
| Bethel Elementary | 73.3 | Met | B |
| Clyde Elementary | 71.6 | Exceeded | B |
| Hazelwood Elementary | 64.3 | Met | C |
| Jonathan Valley Elementary | 74.7 | Met | B |
| Junaluska Elementary | 73.0 | Met | B |
| Meadowbrook Elementary | 66.5 | Met | C |
| North Canton Elementary | 68.1 | Not Met | C |
| Riverbend Elementary | 88.1 | Met | A+ |
| Bethel Middle | 70.0 | Met | B |
| Canton Middle | 64.4 | Met | C |
| Waynesville Middle | 67.0 | Met | B |
| Central Haywood High | 23.6 | Not Met | NA |
| Haywood Early College | 93.7 | Exceeded | A |
| Pisgah High | 66.2 | Met | B |
| Tuscola High | 59.1 | 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 | All NC Public Schools | Public Charter Schools | Haywood County Schools |
| A or A+ | 7.3% | 9.8% | 14.3% |
| B | 28.5% | 33.7% | 50% |
| C | 41.6% | 31.3% | 35.7% |
| D | 18.7% | 17.2% | 0% |
| F | 4.0% | 8.0% | 0% |
“Our academic performance indicators grew slightly as a school system,” said Associate Superintendent Bill Nolte. “We are looking forward to the complete analysis of state data. That will tell us how we stacked up with other schools and districts across the state.”
Individual school report cards will be issued by the State Board of Education in December. “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 be in the top ten percent of school districts and remain among the state’s highest performing districts.”
Contact: Dr. Bill Nolte, Associate Superintendent