November 19, 2024
Dear Parents, Guardians, and Staff,
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released school report card information from the 2023-24 school year this morning. I am sharing a folder with you to view all five report cards for the Evansville Community School District- for the District and for the Elementary, Intermediate, Middle, and High Schools.
Once again, the Evansville Community School District has received an overall rating of “Meets Expectations” (66.5), or 3 out of 5 stars. This score is down 1.8 points from last year (68.3).
NOTE: Levi Leonard Elementary School has no state-mandated testing in grades K-2, and therefore, receives an Alternate Rating (AR).
School report card scores are based on four priority areas:
- Achievement.
- Growth.
- Target Group Outcomes.
- On-track to Graduation.
The weight of each priority area differs from school to school. Depending on the school, the category percentages range from 31.9% to 18.1% of the total score. The Target Group Outcomes portion of the score takes the bottom 25% of students in both Reading and Mathematics and creates a subscore based on (a) achievement, (b) growth, (c) chronic absenteeism, and (d) graduation rate or attendance. Within this subscore, Growth is then weighted at 50%, followed by Achievement at 20%, and Chronic Absenteeism and Graduation/Attendance at 15% each.
In recent years, the Evansville Community School District has implemented Bridges and Illustrative Math curricula. This past spring, the district adopted Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum and trained staff in the Science of Reading. It also brought in additional support for struggling readers with a grant from the Wisconsin Reading Corps.
The district’s administrative team has already met with Patrick Chambers from the Office of Educational Accountability within the Department of Public Instruction on October 9th after the preliminary scores were released to schools in WISEdash for Districts. The school district is committed to addressing our challenges- increasing our growth in English Language Arts and Mathematics and working closely with our students who struggle the most (in our Target Group).
Evansville High School Principal Jeff Crandall noted, “At EHS, our focus is on continual progress to ensure the success and development of our students as they prepare for life beyond high school. We place a strong emphasis on actively engaging students in their learning experiences. To enhance readiness for the future, we regularly refine our materials and coursework to ensure relevance and rigor. This year, we implemented a new scheduling system that allows students and staff to select daily learning locations tailored to their academic needs or enrichment interests. These initiatives reflect our unwavering commitment to foster the personal and academic growth of every student.”
J.C. McKenna Middle School Principal Joanie Dobbs added, “At J.C. McKenna, we are committed to continuously making improvements to best meet the needs of our students. This year, we have focused on providing more enrichment opportunities for students. Our curriculum resources are more discussion-based and focus on problem-solving and discovery rather than memorization, which helps students develop a deeper understanding of concepts. These efforts are a part of our ongoing commitment to helping every student grow and reach their full potential.”
Theodore Robinson Intermediate School Principal Barb Dorn remarked, “We are proud of the hard work and dedication our students and staff have shown in holding our overall achievement score steady. However, we recognize that there are areas where we can improve. We will continue to adjust our teaching strategies to focus on what students are struggling with, while still challenging them in areas of strength. The implementation of a new rigorous literacy curriculum K-5 and efforts to use ongoing data to inform our instruction in math will benefit all of our learners. We will continue to foster a positive and engaging learning environment for all of our students and work together with families to help every student thrive.”
Among Rock Valley Conference districts, Evansville ranked 7th out of the 12 school districts. That is down two spots from last year. Evansville was one of seven conference districts to trend down from last year. Five school districts in the conference trended up. In Rock County, Evansville ranked 5th out of the 8 school districts. That is down two spots from last year. Four county districts trended down from last year, while four school districts in the county trended up in scores.
While the administrative team and staff were pleased with the gains made at the middle school, we will all strive to reach every student and to assist them in achieving their full potential.
Have a (Blue) Devil of a Day!
Sincerely,
Nate Perry
District Administrator
(608) 882-3386 • perryn@evansville.k12.wi.us
