Eight St. Mary schools make 'Top Gains'; five are 'Equity Honorees'

The St. Mary Parish public schools administration sent this press release Friday afternoon:

St. Mary Parish received its school performance data from the Louisiana Department of
Education (LDOE). As in the past, a school performance score (SPS) was calculated for
each school. A huge difference between the past and 2021 however, is the special
challenges schools faced in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. For this reason, school
performance scores in 2021 are prefaced with “C19” and are considered “simulated”
scores rather than official ones. The LDOE also did not assign letter grades to schools
or districts. Simulated scores were produced so that schools and districts could use the
information to help make decisions regarding instruction. They will not be used by the
state department in any official capacity, nor will they be used for accountability
purposes in coming years.
If letter grades had been assigned St. Mary Parish would maintain its “B” letter grade
for overall district performance. The 2021 C19 Simulated District Performance Score
(DPS) is 82.3, demonstrating a small decrease from the 2019 DPS of 85.4. There were
no performance scores in 2020 because schools were closed before spring testing took
place. St. Mary remains above the state whose simulated performance score is 75.3.
Superintendent Teresa Bagwell issued the following statement: “The most recent
release of accountability data exemplifies the impact of educational disruptions to
students. Schools were given testing data prior to today’s release and have analyzed
results of each student to adequately plan for this school year. Additionally, the district
has invested in reading and math supports to respond to academic needs revealed within
the data. I want to commend our schools on the extraordinary efforts they have made in
retuning students safely to the classroom and in striving to mitigate any disruption in
educational services experienced over the last two years.”
Among the highlights from this year’s report:
• 8 schools earn Top Gains status. Schools receiving a letter grade of “A” for
the Student Progress Index therefore earning the distinction of Top Gains
Honorees include: J.S. Aucoin Elementary, Bayou Vista Elementary, Berwick
Elementary, Franklin Junior High, Lagrange Elementary, Hattie Watts
Elementary, Norman Elementary and Wyandotte Elementary.
• 5 schools earn Equity Honoree status. Schools who outperform 90% of all
schools across various student groups and receive no intervention labels earn
this distinction. The schools include: J.S. Aucoin Elementary, Berwick High,
Morgan City High, Patterson High, and West St. Mary High.