By Nicole Walby
Staff Writer
Article Photos
Eight area schools achieved an "excellent" rating after Ohio Department of Education released the preliminary 2011-12 district and school report card results Wednesday.
Clyde-Green Springs Exempted Village School District, Hopewell-Loudon, Mohawk, New Riegel and Old Fort local school districts, and Tiffin City Schools all received "excellent" ratings.
"We are very proud to have this rating for the second year in a row," said Donald Coletta, superintendent for Tiffin City Schools.
This also is the third year in Tiffin City Schools' history that it has received an "excellent" rating.
"(The rating) is a reflection of the outstanding instruction of the teachers and the commitment of the students to learn," Coletta said.
Lakota Local School District and Upper Sandusky Exempted Village School District also were rated "excellent," an improvement from ratings of "effective" last year.
North Central Academy was rated "continuous improvement," improved from "academic watch" last year.
Carey Exempted Village School District and Seneca East Local School District maintained an "effective" rating
For the first time, Mohawk Local School District has met 26 of 26 of the state performance indicators, maintaining an "excellent" rating for the second year in a row, Superintendent Ken Ratliff said.
"I'm really proud of our students and staff. This is what Mohawk pride is really all about," he said.
Only a third of Ohio schools have met all 26 indicators and officials are happy to be among those schools, Ratliff said.
These indicators are based upon student performance on state assessments, graduation rate and attendance rate, Ratliff said.
Along with Mohawk, Hopewell-Loudon and New Riegel local school districts have also achieved 100 percent of the state performance indicators.
"We have met all the criteria of the state indicators and are happy to have maintained our rating," said Nicole Jiran, superintendent for Hopewell-Loudon.
Tiffin City Schools and Old Fort Local School District have met 25 out of 26 of the state performance indicators.
"I am pleased with the rating," said Old Fort Superintendent Jude Meyers.
"We are proud to provide our kids with the best education. There are challenges to stay in front of the changing climate and we have got to be focused," he said.
Bettsville Local School District, Fostoria City Schools and Bridges Community Academy have maintained a "continuous improvement" rating.
Report cards are normally released in August.
According to a release by the ODE, the department will not publish the official local report cards until an investigation by the auditor of state is concluded or as otherwise agreed upon by the state board of education.
The investigation is due to enrollment and attendance irregularities across the state.
The information released Wednesday is preliminary and remains subject to revision.
