NRE named School of Promise by state

New Richmond Elementary has been honored by the Ohio Department of Education as a School of Promise for the 2009-2010 school year based on the school’s results of this year’s Ohio School Report Card.

“In being named a School of Promise, your school is part of an elite group of 161schools recognized this year for high achievement in reading or mathematics for all groups of students, despite having 40 percent or more of your students coming from low-income backgrounds,” Deborah S. Delisle, Superintendent of Public Instruction for Ohio, said in a letter to New Richmond Elementary principal Gary Combs.

“I am very honored for our staff, students and parents to be recognized for becoming a School of Promise for the 2009-2010 school year,” said Combs. “It is through hard work, dedication and commitment to meeting the instructional needs of students we achieve this honor. NRE is a great place to be!”

“As a former district superintendent, principal and teacher, I recognize the many challenges associated when working with students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds,” Delisle said in her letter to Combs. “I thank you for your leadership and the commitment of your staff to help all students achieve at high levels. By supporting students and believing in them, you and your staff continue to demonstrate a truly collaborative spirit.”

New Richmond Elementary met all 9 of its state indicators, and, like the other four buildings in the district, received an Excellent rating on the Ohio Department of Education’s 2009-2010 Report Card. NRE was rated as an Effective school on the 2008-2009 state report card, just missing Excellent due to reading scores.

The school made dramatic improvement in its reading scores this time and showed improvement in six of those nine areas over the previous year while achieving the highest score in the district in 3rd grade reading with 91.2 percent of its third graders passing the state test. It’s third grade math score was 90.9.

“This is a tremendous achievement for NRE,” New Richmond superintendent Adam Bird said. “Student learning and growing should be what we are about and I am thankful for all the hard work that goes into our district's Excellent rating.”

“ I encourage each of you to be the leader in your classrooms, buildings, and busses and that you make decisions that help our district address state standards, help all students make adequate yearly progress, and results in at least a year's worth of growth for every student as determined by the value-added measure,” Bird said in an email to the New Richmond EVSD staff.