Local school earns state's top grade

After falling from a grade of B from the Indiana Department of Education to an F in 2012, Templeton Elementary School was able to increase its grade to an A for 2013.

Indiana A-F grades for individual schools were released at the beginning of December by the DOE.  Corporation Accountability grades were also released Wednesday, with the Monroe County School Corporation receiving an A.

Some schools did not fare as well as Templeton. Two MCCSC schools received Fs. Templeton was the only school that achieved a grade increase of that margin.

Templeton Principal Donald Carver said the school didn’t really change any programming that might account for their sharp grade increase.

He said the staff and students continued to move forward. He said one of the most important components to achieving success is to have a common curriculum across grade levels and a strong emphasis on applied skills, such as problem solving.

Carver said MCCSC’s  A grade shows the commitment throughout the corporation to higher learning.

“When you score an A as a corporation, it really shows it’s not just one school,” he said.

Carver emphasized no school can ever have the perfect formula for achieving excellent performance. He said if any school loses focus, the performance of the school may falter.

“There’s no program that’s going to guarantee any school an A,” he said. “There’s not any one right program.”