Looking back: Why is the Suffolk School System still lingering in or near the lower 50 percent of the public school districts in Virginia ?

Article 2 Volume 9

In 2017 the Suffolk School System moved up 3 notches to number 79 in the ranking of the
132 school districts in Virginia.

This bump indicates that efforts are being made to improve the teaching and credibility of the schools.

Last year some of the parents were protesting about the teachers not getting a raise.  But they were virtually silent about the school system's overall poor performance.

In September,  according to School Dagger  ( a highly respected school  ranking and rating group in Virginia ) Suffolk's improvement was not enough to merit a 3 Star rating out of a potential 5 Star Rating criteria.

The slight rise in ranking merits a faint applause.

Three of the most improved schools are listed. Also the school with the highest decrease:                  
                                                       2016 Rank    2017 Rank     Rank change   total Va Elem Schools

                                                                                                                                            1090

                  Elementary Schools  
                                *    Driver                       574               303              up  271

                                      Northern Shores      465               317              up 148

                             **     Kilby Shores            408                562        down  154

                                      Mack Benn Jr        1020               1006            up    14
                                    Nansemond Pkwy      855                724            up   131

                                                                                                                             total middle Schools

                                                                                                                                             297
       Middle Schools- Forrest Glen             257                 211              up   46                 

                                   John Yeates               120                 114              up     6

    Note: All middle schools rank improved

* Driver was among the leaders in most improved.
**Kilby Shores was among the leaders in the state in schools that declined in ranking.

In my next report on this subject I will  present the high school status.

Hopefully, the school system fared better in 2018. We will know in September or late August when the statistics come out. 

Elementary school education is important.  A poor elementary education leads to a poor high school education. A poor HS education often leads to criminal acts and incarcerations.  Check it out. If you check the elementary schools feeder to high schools to drop outs and incarcerations yo may be surprised at the results.

Time to go now, but I'll be reporting some more on this subject.

            Copyright 2018. Grady E. Bryant, Sr.