McHenry Primary has been honored with a Bronze Award for greatest improvement in standardized testing scores from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.  McHenry was one of 275 schools in Georgia to be honored Wednesday by Governor Sonny Perdue and State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox for improvement and achievement during the 2007-2008 school year.  The two state leaders recognized McHenry and the other award winning schools under Georgia's Single Statewide Accountability System (SSAS), which awards schools based on their performance on state curriculum exams and Adequate Yearly Progress status.

"These awards are just one way to say ‘thank you’ and ‘great job’ to the principals, teachers, parents and students at these schools," was a statement attributed to State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox in a release from the Georgia Department of Education. “This type of achievement and improvement doesn't happen unless everyone is focused on the goal of providing a quality education to every student.”   The awards were announced as part of the release of the 2007-2008 K-12 Public Schools Report Card.  McHenry Primary will receive a banner to hang in the school as part of the award.

The schools are awarded on four levels -- Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze -- in two categories:

• Greatest gains: Schools that showed the greatest improvement in scores on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) or the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT)
• Highest performance: Schools that demonstrated the highest achievement on the CRCT or GHSGT

Jenni Cunningham, principal of McHenry Primary, credits teacher and parent support for the school’s success.  “We are very proud of the efforts of the students, teachers, staff and parents of McHenry,” Cunningham said. “Our staff and parents work together to make this school a great place for young children to begin their learning journey.”  The school has also taken steps to look at past performance to seek improvement.  “The administration and staff at McHenry have done a great job of analyzing data from past performance to set a path for the future,” stated Dr. Lynn Plunkett, superintendent of Floyd County Schools.  “The teachers have been able to take that information and target specific needs of individual students at McHenry to propel student achievement to higher levels.”  .McHenry Primary is a Pre-Kindergarten through third grade school serving approximately 300 students in the Pepperell area.  

The 2007-2008 K-12 Public Schools Report Card contains data and information on every school and school district in Georgia. A joint effort between the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) and the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), the annual report card includes the following information:

•        Scores on state and national tests
•        Data on student enrollment and demographics
•        Graduation rates and dropout rates
•        Information on school and district personnel and finances

According to the state, the first phase of the data was released on Wednesday. The report card will be populated with more information in the coming weeks and months.  The Office of Student Achievement also released the 2007-2008 Georgia Education Scoreboard, which provides the public with a straight-forward look at data for all levels of education, including K-12. The Georgia Education Scoreboard serves as the cover to the report card.