The Ohio Department of Education has released its latest school report cards, and the Olentangy Local School District has received top marks across the board.

According to the Department of Education, the report cards are meant to give parents, caregivers, community members, educators, and policymakers information about how districts and schools are performing in order to celebrate successes and identify areas for improvement.

Districts are graded on a five-star scale in five different categories — achievement, progress, gap closing, graduation rate, and early literacy — and Olentangy Schools received five stars in each of the categories.

The achievement component represents whether student performance on state tests met established thresholds, as well as how students performed on the tests overall. All but two of the schools in the district received five stars in the metric. Berlin and Orange high schools received four stars.

Achievement on those tests compared to prior results is analyzed to determine a district’s progress rating. While the district received a five-star rating overall for the component, 10 of the district’s schools received two or three stars in the category. The district’s other 15 schools received four or five stars in the category.

All but one district school received five stars in the gap closing component, which evaluates a slew of measures that includes the performance of students identified as gifted, improvements in chronic absenteeism, English language proficiency, graduation goals, and progress and achievement in language arts and math. While not a five-star grade, Berlin High School still received four stars in the metric for exceeding the state standard.

In the early literacy component, which measures reading improvement and proficiency for students in kindergarten through third grade, all but one of the district’s elementary schools received four or five stars for exceeding the state’s standards. Arrowhead Elementary received three stars for meeting those standards.

As for the fifth component, which monitors the graduation rates in the district, Olentangy Schools performed as expected with each of the district’s four high schools receiving five stars.

“We are pleased that the state report card reflects Olentangy’s commitment to academic excellence,” said Chief Academic Officer Jack Fette. “The state report card is just one measurement of the Olentangy learning experience, and we plan to continue to meet the needs of our students outside of tested areas.”

Jeanette Kenney, the director of data and continuous improvement, added, “In reviewing the performance index of the district, we are proud that Olentangy is the fourth largest district in the state and continues to perform at an exceedingly high academic level, ranking in the top 6% of Ohio school districts.”

To better understand the state’s grading system, or to view the district’s performance, visit reportcard.education.ohio.gov.

Editor’s note: The Gazette will publish separate articles on the results for every public school district in the county.

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.