Out of 19 traditional high schools in Orange County, 15 have earned grades of “A” or “B” for 2012. For the first time ever, Evans High School has earned a grade of “B.” Olympia High School is rated “A” for the third year in a row.
Dr. Phillips, Freedom, Lake Nona, Olympia, Timber Creek, and Winter Park. Dr. Phillips, Freedom, Lake Nona, are among the “A” schools and Timber Creek moved up from a “B” to an “A.”
Nine schools earned “B” grades including Boone, Cypress Creek, East River, Edgewater, Evans, Ocoee, University, Wekiva, and West Orange high schools.
Commenting on the school grades, Orange County School District Superintendent Barbara Jenkins said, “The school board and I are extremely proud of our students, teachers, and school leaders who work hard to meet or exceed goals. These results reflect their effort, as well as the effort of our central office.”
Magnolia School, a special day school which houses physically, cognitively, and medically-impaired students, earned a grade of “F.” Magnolia provides specialized services for students who cannot be served in the general school setting. For the first time, exceptional student education center schools were included in Florida’s accountability system.
“Clearly there will be further discussion regarding how ESE center schools should be graded. We also realize that our high school grades next year may look different as we incorporate end-of-course assessments for biology and geometry. We are diligently preparing for Common Core and fully implementing the standards that help ensure our students are ready to compete in a global economy,” Jenkins added.
High school grades are calculated by combining: student results on FCAT, including performance and learning gains; graduation rates and at-risk graduation rates; college readiness measures such as ACT, SAT, CPT or PERT and participation and performance in accelerated curricular programs such as Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), academic dual enrollment classes and industry certifications.
