Asheville City, Buncombe County schools performance grades are in for 2022-23 year

McKenna Leavens, Asheville Citizen Times
·5 min read
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released the 2022-23 testing scores for school districts, this includes Asheville City and Buncombe County schools.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released the 2022-23 testing scores for school districts, this includes Asheville City and Buncombe County schools.

ASHEVILLE - Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools received school performance grade letters this week from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for the 2022-23 school year, with few schools getting A scores, and most getting Cs.

The state's education department has been assigning letter grades to schools since 2013, based on student performance. The grades are based on each school’s achievement score in certain subjects and each school’s academic growth. The total school performance score is used to determine a grade of A through F, according to the NCDPI website.

The grading is based on 80% of each school’s achievement score and 20% of each school’s students’ academic growth.

Elementary schools are graded based on reading, math, science and English learner progress assessments. High schools are graded on graduation rate, how students perform on the American College Test and math, reading and biology assessments as well as English learner progress.

A Sept. 6 news release from NCDPI said that the 2022-23 test results showed that students are continuing to recover from the loss of learning during COVID. Low-performing schools are those that receive a performance grade of D or F, according to NCDPI.

School performance is still below pre-pandemic levels but has been on the rise the past two years, according to data from NCDPI.

ACS 2022-23 school performance letter grades

High Schools

  • Asheville High School: B

  • School of Inquiry and Life Sciences: B

Middle Schools

  • Asheville Middle: C

  • Montford North Star Academy: B

Elementary Schools

  • Claxton Elementary: C

  • Hall Fletcher Elementary: D

  • Ira B. Jones Elementary: C

  • Isaac Dickson Elementary: C

  • Lucy S. Herring Elementary: C

"As we meet and exceed growth measures, we will accelerate our progress towards meeting proficiency standards. We will take time to celebrate these achievements; however, we also acknowledge the work ahead as we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a high-quality education for all students, addressing areas of improvement, and ensuring that every child in our district has the opportunity to succeed," Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman said in the news statement.

"We also acknowledge the work ahead as we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a high-quality education for all students," Maggie Fehrman superintendent of ACS said in the release.
"We also acknowledge the work ahead as we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a high-quality education for all students," Maggie Fehrman superintendent of ACS said in the release.

The release said that city schools have "identified several critical academic focus areas that will guide the district's strategic planning process moving forward."

These areas are addressing the achievement gap between Black and white students, strengthening math proficiency and ensuring every student is reading on grade level by the end of third grade.

In Asheville City Schools, only 11% of Black students grades three to eight were considered proficient in math in the 2021-22 school year based on end-of-year standardized tests, compared to the 66% of white students who were considered proficient. That's a 55 percentage point gap.

The same gap was present in reading scores as well, where 13% of Black students in the same grades were considered proficient in reading, compared to 75% of white students, coming out to a 62 percentage point gap.

There weren't any big jumps in grade letters compared to the 2022-21 school year. The grade letters stayed consistent, other than Montford North Star Academy, which went from a C letter grade to a B letter grade.

More: Buncombe County high school earns top 10 state ranking by U.S. News. See more rankings.

BCS 2022-23 school performance letter grades

High Schools

  • Nesbitt Discovery Academy: A

  • A.C. Reynolds High School: B

  • T.C. Roberson High School: B

  • North Buncombe High School: B

  • Enka High School: B

  • Buncombe County Early College: A

  • Owen High School: B

  • Erwin High School: C

  • Virtual Academy: C

  • Buncombe County Middle College: A

Nesbitt Discovery Academy ranked in the top 10 in the state for "Best North Carolina High Schools" from the U.S. News and World Report list.
Nesbitt Discovery Academy ranked in the top 10 in the state for "Best North Carolina High Schools" from the U.S. News and World Report list.

Middle Schools

  • Charles T. Koontz Intermediate: C

  • Enka Intermediate: D

  • Joe P. Eblen Intermediate: D

  • North Windy Ridge Intermediate: C

  • A.C. Reynolds Middle: C

  • Cane Creek Middle: B

  • C.D. Owen Middle: D

  • Clyde A. Erwin Middle: D

  • Enka Middle: D

  • North Buncombe Middle: B

  • Valley Springs Middle: C

Elementary Schools

  • Avery’s Creek Elementary: C

  • Barnardsville Elementary: C

  • Black Mountain Elementary: C

  • Black Mountain Primary: C

  • Candler Elementary: C

  • Charles C. Bell Elementary: C

  • Emma Elementary: D

  • Fairview Elementary: B

  • Glen Arden Elementary: B

  • Haw Creek Elementary: C

  • Hominy Valley Elementary: C

  • Johnston Elementary: F

  • Leicester Elementary: C

  • North Buncombe Elementary: C

  • Oakley Elementary: D

  • Pisgah Elementary: C

  • Sand Hill-Venable Elementary: C

  • W. D. Williams Elementary: D

  • Weaverville Elementary: B

  • William W. Estes Elementary: C

  • West Buncombe Elementary: B

  • Woodfin Elementary: D

More: 'As a Black man, I'm appalled': Report shows gap between Black, white student achievement

"These results, coupled with our highest-ever cohort graduation rate and matching our seven-year highest ACT county average, make me very excited and enthusiastic for the future. As a school system, we know that we have work to do and areas to improve, and we will," Rob Jackson superintendent of BCS said in a Sept. 7 email to the Citizen Times.

According to Jackson, 20 BCS schools exceeded growth, which is the largest number since 2015.

In comparison to the letter grades given to BCS last year, Reynolds Middle School, Avery's Creek, Leicester and Sand Hill-Venable elementary schools all moved from D grades to C grades, meaning they no longer fall under the category of a "low-performing school." West Buncombe Elementary and Glen Arden Elementary moved up from a C grade to a B grade while Woodfin Elementary went from F to D. Enka Intermediate was the only school that moved down a grade letter, from a C to a D.

In Buncombe County Schools, 21% of Black students grades three to eight were considered proficient in math in the 2021-22 school year, compared to 61% of white students who were considered proficient — making that a 40-percentage point difference. In reading, 21% of Black students in the same grades were considered proficient in comparison to 57% of white students.

According to NCDPI a school that identified as "low performing" has to develop a plan to improve and parents must be notified about the school's performance grade.

More: NC Parents' Bill of Rights now law; what does this mean for Asheville City Schools?

More: Meet the teachers who traveled overseas for Asheville City Schools

McKenna Leavens is the education reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at mleavens@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter @LeavensMcKenna. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC state test results for Asheville Buncombe County schools 2022-23