SUNBURY — Each school in the Big Walnut Local School District received at least one top rating in the 2023 Ohio School Report Cards, as determined by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE).
As The Gazette reported previously, the district received an overall rating of 4 stars, which exceeds state standards. Each district in Ohio was rated from 1 to 5 stars in five categories: Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation and Early Literacy.
Here’s how the ODE defines each category:
Achievement: Measuring student’s “academic achievement using each level of performance on Ohio’s State Tests.”
Progress: Measuring “the academic performance of students compared to expected growth on Ohio’s State Tests.”
Gap Closing: This “shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for our students in English language arts, math, and graduation.”
Graduation: Measures “the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate and the five-year adjusted cohort graduation rate.”
Early Literacy: “A measure of reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade.”
The district’s schools don’t get an overall rating like the district, but they are rated in the categories that apply to them. The first three categories can be applied to every school, with Graduation applying only to Big Walnut High School (BWHS) and Early Literacy to the elementaries.
Here’s how each building fared, in alphabetical order:
• Big Walnut Elementary School (grades K-4, 392 students enrolled, 94.4% attendance rate): 4 Achievement, 4 Progress, 5 Gap Closing, 3 Early Literacy.
• BWHS (grades 9-12, 1,122 enrolled, 93% attendance): 4 Achievement, 3 Progress, 4 Gap Closing, 5 Graduation.
• Big Walnut Intermediate School (grades 5-6, 617 enrolled, 94.6% attendance): 4 Achievement, 3 Progress, 5 Gap Closing.
• Big Walnut Middle School (grades 7-8, 617 enrolled, 94.2% attendance): 4 Achievement, 4 Progress, 5 Gap Closing.
• General Rosecrans Elementary School (grades K-4, 323 enrolled, 95.1% attendance): 4 Achievement, 5 Progress, 5 Gap Closing, 3 Early Literacy.
• Hylen Souders Elementary School (grades K-4, 375 enrolled, 93.5% attendance): 4 Achievement, 3 Progress, 5 Gap Closing, 3 Early Literacy.
• Prairie Run Elementary School (grades K-4, 469 enrolled, 94.5% attendance): 5 Achievement, 3 Progress, 5 Gap Closing, 4 Early Literacy.
An eighth school, the Harrison Early Learning Center, was not rated.
For more information, visit reportcard.education.ohio.gov.
Assistant Editor Gary Budzak covers the eastern half of Delaware County and surrounding areas. He may be reached at [email protected].
