Oakwood No. 1 in state; two local districts perfect on graduation

Oakwood, Waynesville, Covington and Yellow Springs were among several local school districts that ranked near the top of the state in school report card data released Thursday.

Oakwood was the No. 1 district in Ohio in the “Prepared for Success” category of the state report card, which tries to measure how well-prepared students are for the future, via ACT/SAT scores, honors diplomas, industry credentials and participation in college credit-bearing programs.

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Oakwood also scored fifth-highest of the state’s 608 school districts in performance index, which is the most detailed measure of state test performance. Oakwood High School Principal Paul Waller credited a team effort from parents, students and the schools.

“Our vision is to make sure that our students are prepared, are poised to lead and to be ethical decision makers,” Waller said Thursday. “We have a wonderful core curriculum and a large variety of Advanced Placement and dual enrollment courses … We want to give all of our kids an opportunity to be successful where their interests are.”

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The Yellow Springs and Covington school districts were among only 12 school districts statewide to post 100 percent graduation rates in both report card measures. The state tracks both a four-year and a five-year graduation rate, reported on a one-year lag. This year’s four-year grad rate refers to students who would have normally become the class of 2016. The five-year rate measures the class of 2015.

For Covington, a district of about 800 students just northwest of Troy, it marked the second year in a row that both graduation rates were 100 percent. There were several districts just north of the core Dayton area that had 100 percent graduation in at least one year, and Versailles, Botkins and Coldwater were at 100 percent both years.

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Wayne Local Schools in Waynesville was the region’s top performer in K-3 Literacy Improvement on the report card. K-3 Literacy measures what percentage of a district’s struggling readers get back on track to proficiency between kindergarten and third grade.

Waynesville had the third best score in the state on that measure, at 88 percent.

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