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Schools maintain high marks

by Cameron Rasmusson Staff Writer
| August 4, 2013 7:00 AM

SANDPOINT — The Lake Pend Oreille School District schools maintained their high marks in a star-ranking system adopted by the Idaho Department of Education in 2010.

The vast majority of local schools earned a four or a five-star rating according to data released by the state on Thursday. Using a system based on academic growth, proficiency on standardized testing and, in the case of high schools, the number of options available to prepare for post-secondary education or training. Those factors are calculated into a score of 100 possible points, which is used to determine the school’s star rating.

LPOSD high and middle schools all maintained or improved their star rating. Sandpoint High School remained a five-star school, dropping from last year’s to score of 84 to an 83. Sandpoint Middle School, meanwhile, increased its total score to an 82 — good enough to maintain its four-star rating. Lake Pend Oreille High School, which focuses on serving at-risk students, increased its score to a 44, bumping up its ranking from one to two stars. Clark Fork Junior and Senior High School increased its score to 85, preserving its five-star rating. Finally, the Forrest M. Bird Charter School remained a four-star school with a score of 76.

As for elementary schools, LPOSD offerings were uniformly high-ranking. Farmin Stidwell Elementary carries a four-star rating with a score of 81. With 67 points altogether, Hope Elementary is another four-star school. After slipping from last year’s score of 87 to 82 this year, Kootenai Elementary was the only school to lose a star, dropping from five stars to four stars. Northside Elementary was the highest performer in the district this year in terms of points, jumping from a score of 83 to 95 and maintaining its five-star ranking. As another five-star school, Southside Elementary kept its rating but fell from last year’s score of 97 to 88. Last but not least, Washington Elementary maintained its four-star rating with a score of 77.

School ratings are set to remain until 2015, at which point, Idaho will transition from using the Idaho Standards Achievement Test as a measuring tool to a new assessment test aligned Common Core Standards.