Haywood County Schools ranks in the top 20% among the state’s 115 school districts, based upon the district performance composite. This is a performance composite decrease of 2.6 points from the previous year. The performance composite represents a combination of all state tests as well as other performance indicators 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 2018-19 school performance indicators were released by the State Board of Education yesterday. 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. Additional detailed performance results including individual school report cards and individual teacher growth are scheduled for release at a later date. 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 | 58.8 | ||
| Haywood County Schools | 64.5 | ||
| Bethel Elementary | 73.2 | Not Met | B |
| Clyde Elementary | 68.1 | Met | B |
| Hazelwood Elementary | 57.2 | Not Met | C |
| Jonathan Valley Elementary | 66.9 | Exceeded | B |
| Junaluska Elementary | 71.0 | Met | B |
| Meadowbrook Elementary | 61.7 | Met | C |
| North Canton Elementary | 66.7 | Not Met | C |
| Riverbend Elementary | 89.7 | Met | A |
| Bethel Middle | 71.7 | Met | B |
| Canton Middle | 58.5 | Not Met | C |
| Waynesville Middle | 66.5 | Not Met | C |
| Central Haywood High | 10.7 | NA Alternative HS | NA Alternative HS |
| Haywood Early College | >95 | Exceeded | A |
| Pisgah High | 62.2 | Met | B |
| Tuscola High | 51.7 | 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 through 2018-19 Haywood County Schools has remained in an elite group of school districts with no “D” or “F” schools. The following chart presents the percentage of schools by letter grade for all North Carolina schools, charter schools and Haywood County Schools for 2018-19.
| Letter Grade | All NC Public Schools | Public Charter Schools | Haywood County Schools |
| A | 8% | 11.2% | 14.3% |
| B | 29.3% | 33.1% | 42.85% |
| C | 41.1% | 29.8% | 42.85% |
| D | 18.1% | 19.1% | None |
| F | 3.6% | 6.7% | None |
“These initial results represent a lot of hard work as well as a lot of work to be done,” said Assistant Superintendent, Jill Barker. “We are proud of the efforts and individual accomplishments of our students, staff, and schools.”
“Our overall performance composite places us in the top 20% of school systems in the state,” said Superintendent, Bill Nolte. “We have a lot to celebrate including our ACT rank, science scores, graduation rates, schools that increased performance, and schools that consistently rank among the state’s highest performing. As always, we will dig into the data and work on areas that need to improve.”
Contact: Dr. Bill Nolte, Superintendent