I am extremely proud to serve the children, parents, and staff of the Loudon County School System as Director of Schools. I have over 20 years of experience in teaching and school administration at various levels, serving as assistant director of schools for eight years. The Loudon County School system was designated by the Tennessee Department of Education as Exemplary in the 2018-19, 2017-18 and 2016-17 school years. This was the fourth time our district received this designation which is an incredible accomplishment.
Loudon County Schools is excited to share some great news from the 2020-2021 school year. The Tennessee Department of Education has released school and district accountability data. This data is used to formulate our state report card grade. The district accountability is a combination of performance in English/language arts and mathematics for grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, and English language proficiency. Historically, the district receives a designation based upon these indicators, but this last year there was a hold harmless provision so the district will not receive designations. The data supporting these designations needs to be shared to illustrate the exceptional performance of Loudon County students and teachers. The overall district rank of Loudon County was fourteen out of 146 districts, which puts our district in the top 10% of the state.
Student achievement in the district was outstanding this last year with Algebra 1 in the top 5% of the state, Algebra 2 and US History in the top 10% of the state, elementary and middle school English/language arts and mathematics in the top 15% of the state, Biology 1, elementary and middle school science and social studies in the top 25% of the state.
Loudon County Schools also demonstrated great growth across the district despite operating in a pandemic environment. Student growth rate shows how much students learn from year to year. The Tennessee Department of Education rates schools and districts as Level 1 though Level 5, with Level 5 indicating the most growth. Loudon County School district was a level 5 in all four areas in the 2020-21 school year consisting of composite, literacy, numeracy, and literacy & numeracy. Additionally, we had over half our schools (Fort Loudoun Middle, Greenback, Loudon Elementary, Loudon High, and North Middle) achieve a composite growth of a level 5 and three schools (Fort Loudoun Middle, Loudon Elementary and North Middle) achieve level 5 growth in all four areas. Eaton and Highland Park Elementary did not generate growth scores because of their K-4 grade span and the state not testing the year prior.
We know that this past school year was anything but normal, however our students, teachers, and staff persevered and exceled in both academic achievement and growth. More importantly, all our staff in every school worked tirelessly to meet both our students’ physical and emotional needs, in addition to providing them with a top-notch education surrounded by some of the most challenging circumstances educators have seen. We also recognize that we have areas to improve, but we want to celebrate the good and let the community know they have a school system they can be proud of each day.
These accomplishments were only achieved because of the arduous work and dedication of our students, staff, and parents. I’m excited about what the future holds for our students given the solid foundation of knowledge we are building for them. Let’s have a great 2021-2022 school year and support our teachers and staff as they work hard for students and positively contribute to our community.