Schools
Land O’ Lakes Schools Defy the Grading Odds
Most of the area's schools maintained A grades despite state warnings that many campuses would see letter drops. Connerton Elementary was the only school in the area to fall a letter grade.
While not all of Pasco County’s schools were so lucky, most elementary and middle schools in the Land O’ Lakes area made high marks on their report cards this year.
According to data released by Pasco County Schools, Denham Oaks, Oakstead, Lake Myrtle and Pine View elementary schools all hung onto the A grades they had last year. So did Charles S. Rushe and Pine View middle schools.
“The District School Board of Pasco County is pleased to share that the majority of its graded schools earned an outstanding grade of A or B, and no school in Pasco County earned an F this year,” according to Summer Romagnoli, school district spokeswoman. “Out of the data released from the state today (elementary and middle schools only), Pasco received 22 As, 17 Bs, 21 Cs, 6 Ds and 0 Fs this year.”
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School grades are based on a number of factors, including FCAT scores and end-of-year assessments. State officials had warned parents throughout Florida that they might see a number of schools drop in letter grades due to new standards.
“As grades for elementary, middle and many combination schools become available, you may notice that some schools have lower grades than last year,” wrote Gerard Robinson, Florida’s Commissioner of Education in an open letter to parents. (See attached PDF). “That does not necessarily mean that the schools, teachers or students are not doing as well as they were before. There were a number of changes to the state’s accountability system this year that impacted the results."
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, Land O’ Lakes schools overall did very well on their grades. Connerton Elementary was the only one in the area to see a drop in its grade. It fell from an A to a B, according to district records. Charter schools Imagine and Countryside Montessori also maintained A grades.
For a complete look at how Pasco's school did, see the PDF included with this story.
Grades for the area’s high schools won’t be released until later in the year.
Why do you think Land O’ Lakes schools performed so well? Let us know in the comments section.
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