Hillsborough County school officials said school grades released in July show “students met the challenge,” even with the bar raised for academic achievement.
“We couldn’t have done this without the Hillsborough County community, and all of our stakeholders who wrapped their arms around our schools, principals, teachers and students,” said Superintendent Van Ayres.
Highlights include four Tampa elementary schools that moved two letter grades in the right direction (DeSoto, Potter, Shaw and West Tampa); three middle schools that moved from a D to a C (Eisenhower, Shields and Sligh); two middle schools that moved from a B to an A (Progress Village and Liberty); and Webb Middle, which improved from a C to a B. Moreover, 18 high schools maintained or moved to an A. East Bay, Spoto, Hillsborough and Leto high schools moved from a C to a B.
As for the 66 schools in the Osprey Observer coverage area, 19 schools scored an A; 19 schools, a B; 22 schools, a C; and four schools, including McLane Middle and Pinecrest Elementary, a D.
Eighteen of the 66 schools are charter schools. They received four A’s (Bell Creek Academy, Valrico Lake Advantage Academy, Winthrop Charter School and Riverview Academy High School), seven B’s, five C’s and two D’s (BridgePrep Academy of Riverview and Kid’s Community College Riverview Southeast).
The area’s 11 traditional high schools registered two A’s (Bloomingdale and Newsome), five B’s (Durant, East Bay, Riverview, Spoto and Strawberry Crest) and three C’s (Armwood, Brandon, Lennard and Sumner). The area’s eight middle schools received two A’s (Barrington and Randall), two B’s (Burns and Mulrennan), three C’s (Eisenhower, Rodgers and Shields) and one D (McLane).
For the 66 schools, consistency showed in the 13 schools that received an A grade three years in a row, including Bloomingdale and Newsome high schools; Randall Middle; and Apollo Beach, Bevis, Boyette Springs, FishHawk Creek, Lithia Springs, Stowers and Valrico elementary schools. Charter schools doing so as well include Bell Creek Academy, Valrico Lake Advantage Academy and Winthrop Charter School. York Innovation Academy received an A for both its open years.
Six schools received a B three years in a row; 11 schools, a C. Fifteen schools improved one letter grade; eight schools dropped one letter grade; and one school, Riverview Academy High School, jumped from a C to an A.
Twenty-seven of the 66 schools are designated Title I, which means they receive federal funding to support low-income students. Schools are Title I if at least 40 percent of their students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch.
One of these 27 schools, Brooker Elementary, received an A. Those that earned a B are East Bay and Spoto high schools and Belmont, Mintz, Nelson and Riverview elementary schools. On the list as charter schools are SLAM Academy at Apollo Beach and RCMA Wimauma Community Academy.
Sixteen of the 22 schools with a C grade are Title I, including Armwood, Brandon and Lennard high schools; Eisenhower, Rodgers and Shields middle schools; and Corr, Frost, Gibsonton, Kingswood, Ruskin, Sessums and Symmes elementary schools. Add to the list Sports Leadership and Management Academy, a charter school. Pinecrest and McLane also are Title I.
Also among the 66 local schools, Brooker and Valrico elementary schools received A’s, while Belmont, Mintz, Nelson and Riverview received B’s, as did East Bay and Spoto high schools. Reportedly, 75-100 percent of the students at these six schools were classified as economically disadvantaged. In the same classification, scoring a C, are Armwood, Brandon, Lennard and Sumner high schools; Eisenhower, Rodger and Shields middle schools; and Corr, Frost, Gibsonton, Kingswood, Ruskin, Sessums, Summerfield, Summerfield Crossings and Symmes elementary schools.
To review state grades, and the factors that help decide them, visit www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/18534/urlt/schoolgrades24.xlsx.
