ORWELL – The latest evaluations from the Ohio Department of Education show an overall picture of Grand Valley Schools meeting or exceeding academic standards, but district administration is refocusing its efforts on its youngest students, who are struggling with overall progress and early literacy.
Grand Valley High School had 4 stars out of 5 in all six categories evaluated by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) and a four-year graduation rate of 96.9 percent.
However, the elementary and middle schools are struggling with student progress and early literacy.
Dr. William Nye Jr., superintendent of Grand Valley Local Schools, said this year’s ODE report card is – on balance – about the same as last year.
“We were up in a couple (categories), down in a couple,” he said. “Our high school is doing fine, so we’re going to focus on the middle school and elementary school.”
The elementary school scored 2 stars out of 5 in early literacy, which is rated on three measures: 3rd-grade reading proficiency; how many 3rd graders met reading standards required to move to 4th grade; and how many students in kindergarten through 3rd grade move from “off track” to “on track” between school years.
Where Grand Valley Elementary really struggled was in the Progress category, where the state rated the school at one star, or showing “significant evidence the school fell short of student growth expectations.”
According to the Ohio Department of Education, unlike Achievement, which looks at raw test scores, Progress tracks student growth relative to their own past performance and assessed against comparable students across the state.
Nye said the district has brought in a new principal at Grand Valley Elementary, Kurtis Fisher, and may break the school into two organizational units, depending on how the administration and school board evaluate the state’s statistics, published on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
“We’re having discussions and looking at the data,” he said.
At the middle school, Progress and Gap Closing were both rated two out of five stars.
Gap Closing evaluates how well schools are reducing educational disparities among specific student groups, looking at scores in English language arts, mathematics, English-learner language proficiency, chronic absenteeism and gifted student performance, according to ODE.
Nye said one of the measures taken by Grand Valley Schools to address these challenges is through purchasing new education curricula at both schools.
The district has invested in MagicSchool AI, which analyses and cross-references each student’s state evaluation scores and calibrates their lesson plan to address the areas where they’re struggling the most, according to Nye.
Grand Valley Local Schools
Enrollment: 780
Four-Year Graduation Rate: 96.9 percent
Overall: 3.5
Achievement: 3
Progress: 3
Gap Closing: 2
Graduation: 4
Early Literacy: 2
College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness: 4
Grand Valley Elementary School
Kurtis Fisher, principal
Enrollment: 300
Overall: 2.5/5
Progress: 1/5
Gap Closing: 4/5
Early Literacy: 2/5
Grand Valley Middle School
John Glavickas, principal
Enrollment: 246
Overall: 2.5/5
Achievement: 3/5
Progress: 2/5
Gap Closing 2/5
Grand Valley High School
Nikolas Rubesich, principal
Enrollment: 234
Achievement: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
Progress: 4/5
Gap Closing 4/5
Graduation: 4/5
College, Career, Workforce and Military Readiness: 4/5
