Devyn LeBlanc
reporter@greenepublishing.com
The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) has released the school grades for the 2020-2021 school year. This year the FDOE allowed schools to choose whether or not they wanted to participate due to the difficulties the pandemic has provided. In order to be eligible to opt-in, schools must have tested at least 90 percent of their students.
Madison County High School (MCHS) was unable to test the minimum percentage, making them ineligible to opt-in for school grading. For the 2019 school year, however, MCHS received a D grade.
Madison County Central School (MCCS) and Greenville Elementary School (GES) did test the minimum number of students, yet, chose not to opt-in for school grading. Both of these schools received a C grade in 2019. Principal Lisa Roderick and the faculty of GES decided it was best to opt-out this year. “Many students were unable to score well on their tests due to the inability to learn during quarantine.”
Lee Elementary School (LES) chose to opt-in for school grading, and they improved as a school from a B grade in 2019 to an A for the 2020/2021 school year. “ I am extremely proud of our entire Lee Elementary School community – staff, students, and families! It took a united effort by everyone to achieve such an amazing feat in such an incredibly hard year with the pandemic. We kept our expectations high and worked tirelessly to ensure that every minute was used to help with the learning loss that had occurred the prior year. Our teachers and staff rose to the challenge! Lee Elementary School is 'A' great place to learn,” stated Principal Brown.
Pinetta Elementary School (PES) also saw an improvement this year, as they improved from a C grade to a B. However, an improvement was not seen in all schools. James Madison Preparatory High School (JMPHS) downgraded to a B grade this year from their A in 2019. Madison Creative Arts Academy received their fourth consecutive A grade since 2017.