Mon BOE discusses test scores, the Renaissance Academy

Jim Bissett, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
·2 min read

Sep. 27—Monongalia County Schools got an A for effort from Courtney Crawford on Tuesday night.

Crawford, who directs assessment services for the district, gave a capsule of the West Virginia Balanced Scorecard to Mon Board of Education members during their regular meeting.

The scorecard is the state Department of Education's breakdown of the academic fortunes of schools across West Virginia's 55 counties.

Test scores in reading, English and math from the 2022-23 were presented to the BOE by Crawford, who said that while there's still work to do, Mon's students have once again outpaced their Mountain State neighbors, as chronicled in this most recent outing.

"We've shown progress in every area, " Crawford told board members.

At total of 62.9 % of Mon's students assessed in English and language arts achieved proficiency, opposed to the average of 55 % statewide in those same subjects, Crawford said.

In math, she reported the local county outpaced the rest of the state, with an 61.4 % of students earning the same. Just 51 % of students in every other district made into the proficiency column in the scorecard.

A total of 98 % of Mon's students made through 2022 without being suspended due to disciplinary reasons, Crawford said, with the county boasting a four-year graduation rate of 94.7 %.

Meanwhile, current classes of local students will have long received their diplomas before The Renaissance Academy opens near the end of the decade, but that didn't stop them from waxing eloquent about the planned stand-alone high school that will be solely for science, technology, engineering and math pursuits.

Students who come after will rotate in and out of the STEM school, which will sit on an expanse near Cassville that overlooks Interstate 79.

John Chadwick, an architect with the DLR Group, the firm that will design the Renaissance Academy met Monday with students from Morgantown High School, University High and Clay-Battelle to discuss what will be — and what could be, once the academy's doors are open.

As part of the exercise, he asked them to write postcards from 2040, as they imagined the school.

"Here's one I wanted to share, " said Chadwick, who was at the BOE meeting and will hold a session with academy stakeholders Thursday.

" 'They're learning like it's college, '" he said, reading from the postcard.

" 'The technology here is crazy, ' Chadwick continued. " 'This would be my dream school.'"

Visit https://boe.mono.k12.wv.us / and type "renaissance academy " in the search field to see architectural renderings and other particulars on the project.