St. Mary moves up in school rankings

The St. Mary Parish School District now ranks 17th in the state with a B grade and a state accountability score of 99.2, according to information released Thursday by the Louisiana Department of Education. St. Mary missed the A mark by .8 points.

St. Mary was ranked 22nd in the state last year.

Seven schools also scored an A for performance, which is a record high for the school district. Schools with school performance scores of 100 to 150 earned the A grade.

The honor of “Top Gains School” is given to a school that achieves it growth target and meets annual yearly progress within tested subgroups. Eight schools received this honor.

The schools are Patterson High (growth of 24.1 points), Hattie Watts Elementary (17.7 points), Norman Elementary (14.8), LaGrange Elementary (13.6 points), Berwick Elementary (12.8 points), Berwick High (11.5 points), Bayou Vista Elementary (9 points), and Aucoin Elementary (5.4 points).

Patterson High earned an A for its school performance score and surpassed district and state averages in a few categories.

“I honestly do not know another moment in my life that I have been so proud,” said Patterson High Principal Rachael Sanders. “I knew we could do it.

“I have so much faith in my teachers and students, I had no doubt that this would one day be an A school.”

For three years, Patterson High increased its score by a letter grade each year. Its performance score for the 2013-2014 school year was a C (79.2).

The next school year 2014-2015 the score increased by 6.3 points raising the letter grade to a B (85.5).

The points almost quadrupled in gains for the 2015-16 school year adding 24.1 more points to last year’s performance score. It was highest in gains of all St. Mary schools, earning the distinction of a “Top Gains School.”

Patterson High’s performance score is now 109.6, which is an A.

Three years ago, “we made it known to students exactly what pieces of the puzzle were needed to improve and exactly what their role is in SPS,” Sanders said. “We made students own the SPS. It was a school mission.

“I never expected it this soon, but our teachers and students did it.”

Sanders is currently working in her ninth year as principal at Patterson High. She began her teaching career at the school and remained seven years before becoming an assistant principal for two years at Morgan City High.

“Our faculty and staff are the most incredible, talented, and loyal people I know,” Sanders said. “They believe in the students of Patterson High School and push them to believe in themselves.”

Sanders said she is happier for teachers and students than herself because they made this happen.

“I want my teachers and students to have a school that they can be proud of, and I would say this A gives them that,” Sanders said.

Three category indicators show Patterson High with higher percentages than the district and state.

One category lists Patterson High with more than 95 percent of students graduating in four years with a diploma. The district percentage is 83 percent. And the state percentage is 78 percent.

Another category, End of Course exams on track (good or excellent), lists the school at 71 percent. The district percent is lower at 63 percent. The state percentage is 61 percent.

The percentage of graduates scoring 3+ on advance placement tests or 50+ on CLEP is 12 percent. Again, this is higher than the district’s at 10 percent and 8 percent at the state level.

Lastly, 86 percent of graduates earned 18 and above on the ACT or silver and higher on WorkKeys certificates. This percentage was not higher than the district’s percentage at 88.

But it was higher than the state’s percentage of 75.

“St. Mary Parish continues to be one of the leading and most progressive districts in Louisiana,” said Superintendent Leonard Armato in a news release.

“To realize such widespread systematic growth across nearly all elementary, middle, and high schools is illustrative of the educational revolution in our district toward excellence for all students, he continued.

“I am filled with pride in the accelerated and collaborative efforts of our students, teachers, administrators, and instructional staff in building St. Mary into a highly-recognized school system.”

St. Mary schools

Schools with a grade of A, with school performance scores between 100 and 150:

–Berwick High, 118.2

–Bayou Vista Elementary, 115.9

–Patterson High School, 109.6

–Wyandotte Elementary, 108.1

– Aucoin Elementary, 106.1

–Berwick Elementary, 103.2

–Norman Elementary, 101.5

Schools with a grade of B, with school performance scores between 85 and 99.9:

–Hattie Watts Elementary, 98.4

–Berwick Junior High, 98.2

–Morgan City High, 95.3

–Centerville High, 90.1

–Morgan City Junior High, 88.4

Schools with a grade of C, with school performance scores 70 and 84.9:

–B.E. Boudreaux Middle, 82.7

–Maitland Elementary, 80.6

–Foster Elementary, 80.1

–Shannon Elementary, 78.9

–Franklin High, 78.8

–West St. Mary High, 78

–Patterson Junior High, 77.2

–Franklin Junior High, 76.7

Although these schools made some gains, three remain D schools:

–LaGrange Elementary, 64.4

–Raintree Elementary, 63.1

–J.A. Hernandez, 56.9