State releases report cards on schools

Joseph Middle School has received a report card from the Oregon Department of Education its staff and students will want to frame.

The middle school has received an overall rating of “exceptional’’ for 2007-08 from the Oregon Department of Education via its school report card program. Only 11.4 percent of the state’s public schools received an exceptional rating, the ODE’s highest, in 2007-08. JMS is the lone school in Union and Wallowa counties to earn an exceptional rating.

“We are very excited,’’ said Joseph School District Superintendent Rhonda Shirley.

The superintendent credits the middle school’s high rating to things such as a superb teaching staff. She noted that over the past three years the school has gained several new teachers who have done an excellent job of building curriculum.

Sherri Kilgore, principal of Joseph Middle School and Joseph High School, agrees that the school’s teaching staff deserves enormous credit.

“This is a total kudos to them (the teachers) as well as our staff, the kids and the community,’’ Kilgore said. “All of us are working together to make it happen.’’

People outside the Joseph School District who deserve credit, Kilgore said, include Penny Arentsen of Wallowa Resources, a non-profit organization in Enterprise. Arentsen is Wallowa Resources’ youth stewardship education coordinator. She leads students at Joseph Middle School on field studies of things such as stream water quality, riparian areas and wildlife habitat.

High ratings in the state report card reflect things such as good assessment test scores from last spring, good attendance and low dropout rates.

Six schools in Union and Wallowa counties received the state’s second-highest rating of “strong.’’ Those earning this rating were Island City Elementary School, Joseph Elementary School, Enterprise High School, Imbler Elementary School, Wallowa High School and Imbler High School.

Doug Hislop, superintendent of the Imbler School District, said Imbler’s two high ratings reflect many things including excellent support from parents and the community for students.

Hislop said that if students in the district are having difficulties their parents do not blame the schools, instead they work with teachers to solve the problems. These teachers are outstanding and hard working, Hislop said.

“There are a lot of teachers’ cars in the parking lot on days when there is no school,’’ Hislop said.

He said that teachers often do things such as come in on the weekend to help students prepare for things like homecoming week. Hislop said that when teachers do things like this they develop connections with students that make them more responsive when they ask them to do things in school.

This is the eighth straight year Imbler Elementary has been rated “strong.’’ Imbler High School was rated “exceptional’’ in 2006-07 and “strong’’ in 2005-06.

Island City Elementary’s strong rating was achieved under the direction of Principal John Tolan.

“This is a reflection of the job John Tolan is doing in his leadership role and the excellent work of his teachers and support staff with students,’’ said La Grande School District Superintendent Larry Glaze.

He stressed that parent support also played an important role in Island City’s strong rating.

“This would not happen at Island City or any other school without support from parents,’’ Glaze said.

Enterprise High School’s strong rating follows an exceptional one it received in 2006-07. Enterprise Superintendent Brad Royse credits Enterprise High School’s strong showing to “good kids, great families and a great staff.’’

New programs the Enterprise School District is using include one named “Data Driven Decision Making,’’ which is being used as part of a consolidated school improvement plan. Data Driven Decision Making is being used to analyze student performance statistics to determine strengths and areas which need work, Royse said.

Four schools in the La Grande School District received satisfactory ratings — La Grande High School, La Grande Middle School, Greenwood Elementary School and Central Elementary School.

“We are pleased that all of our schools are rated satisfactory and above,’’ Glaze said. “However, we are always striving to improve the academic achievement of our students and school attendance.’’

State report card data indicates that La Grande students are above the state average in science at eighth and 10th grades; right at the state average in reading at all grades where assessment tests are given; at the state average in math at the elementary level and just below it in grades 7, 8 and 10; and below the state average in writing at fourth grade and at seventh and 10th grades. Writing assessment tests are given only at fourth, seventh and 10th grades.

Union and Wallowa county schools outside of La Grande that received satisfactory ratings are Stella Mayfield Elementary in Elgin, Elgin High School, Enterprise Elementary School, Wallowa Elementary, Union High School and Union Elementary.

The North Powder School District received a satisfactory rating and the Cove School District received a poor rating. North Powder and Cove are rated overall instead of by school because of their sizes.

The Troy and Imnaha schools of Wallowa County were not graded because they do not have enough students to qualify for a rating.

The Cove School District received a low rating despite high test scores and good marks in other areas. The reason is that the district’s participation rate in the reading test category was below the state target. Cove Superintendent Jeff Clark said that this was due to an oversight that is being corrected this school year.

School report cards are issued because of state legislation passed in 1999. The report cards are meant to help public schools communicate with parents and their communities about student test performance, school improvement, attendance, dropout rates, teacher education and experience and more. Schools are given ratings of exceptional, strong, satisfactory, low and unacceptable. Ratings were issued this week by the Oregon Department of Education for 1,130 public schools.