Howard now in good standing; 6 Hamilton County Schools among state's lowest-performing

Monday, August 13, 2012

photo Staff photo by Matt Fields-Johnson/Chattanooga Times Free Press Howard High School, Center for Academics and Technology, is located on Market Street South of I-24.

Chattanooga's Howard School is no longer counted among Tennessee's lowest performing schools.

The Tennessee Department of Education today released lists of priority and focus schools. Both lists are part of the state's new school accountability system, which replaces Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, standards of the past.

Priority schools are those that performed in the bottom 5 percent across tested grades and subjects. Focus schools are the 10 percent of schools across the state with the largest achievement gaps between students.

Results show six priority schools in Hamilton County: Brainerd High, Dalewood Middle, Orchard Knob Elementary, Orchard Knob Middle, Woodmore Elementary, and the public charter school Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy.

Hamilton County's focus schools include: Brown International Academy, Falling Water Elementary, Lakeside Academy and Tyner Middle Academy.

Now in good standing with the state, Howard is no longer subject to state intervention and it's no longer under the jurisdiction of the state-run Achievement School District, a collection of some of the worst performing public schools in Tennessee.

Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.