Perkins Schools Gets 4 Stars On State Report Card

For the second straight year, Perkins Local School District received good grades from the state of Ohio. The Ohio Department of Education awarded Perkins Schools four stars on its annual report card, indicating that the district exceeds state standards.

Perkins High School and Meadowlawn Intermediate Schools also fared well on this year’s report cards. PHS received a 4.5-star rating and Meadowlawn a 4-star rating on the 5-star scale. Meanwhile, Furry Elementary School and Briar Middle School each received 3-star ratings, meaning the two schools met state standards.

The Ohio Department of Education released the reports for public schools across the state in September. The report cards provide families and communities a sense of the quality of their schools. While the state bases much of the report card grades on state testing data, the state also pulls in broader components, such as graduation, attendance, and early literacy rates.

The Perkins Schools administration presented the report card to the Board of Education during its Wednesday, October 9 meeting.

“We are pleased with this report card,” said Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Rena McClellan. “We are doing the work – and it shows.”

For the Early Literacy component, Perkins Schools saw an increase to a 3-star ranking from a 2-star in the 2022-2023 school year, reflecting the efforts teachers and staff are investing in our youngest Pirates. Meanwhile, Mrs. McClellan noted that for the second straight year, the district’s Graduation Rate was a perfect five stars. 

“For parents and students, graduation is the end goal and we’re getting it done,” Mrs. McClellan said.

PHS Principal Principal Jeff Harbal is happy with the grades on this year’s report card. The district and PHS received 5-star ratings for the district’s 97 percent graduation rate. PHS also received 4-star ratings in the Achievement, Progress, and Gap Closing categories. 

The Achievement score is based purely on state test scores, Progress is based on students’ performances over the past three years, and Gap Closing considers the performance of students in various groups based on race, socioeconomic, and disabilities.

“We are proud of our performance index rating, which makes up our achievement component,” Mr. Harbal said. “This is the third straight year that Perkins High School has seen improvements in this score. This reflects our teacher's intentional work in analyzing data in their specific content area to help students maximize their learning potential and score.”

At Meadowlawn, the state awarded 4-star rankings for Progress and Gap Closing, and 3-star rankings for Achievement and Early Literacy. Meadowlawn Principal Jeremy Hiser noted that teachers and staff are committed to meeting the individual needs of every student to ensure their growth and success.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work our staff and students put in each day,” Mr. Hiser said.  “While we’re not where we want to be yet, our focus is to get better every day.”