New Hanover County Schools
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On Thursday, August 2, 2011, North Carolina released the ABCs Test results. Based on those results, the district has seven schools in the state’s highest academic category - Honor Schools of Excellence; the majority of schools here outperformed their results from last year, and the district’s graduation rate is up three points – with significant jumps in the graduation rates for African American and Hispanic students. The ABCs program is the North Carolina State Board of Education’s accountability system that measures the academic achievement of individual schools.
According to the results, 78% of New Hanover County schools met expected growth, a three percent increase from last year. When compared to other large school districts across the state, NHCS outperformed Charlotte-Mecklenberg, Durham, Guilford and Wake County public school districts.
NHCS also showed improvement in the average performance composite, which is the percentage of students who scored at or above grade level on all end-of-grade and end-of-course tests. This percentage increased five points from 71.2 percent to 76.2 percent.
“This year, the most exciting improvement within our district has come from the increased graduation rates. When many districts continue to face alarming dropout rates, the overall graduation rate rose three points from 70.90% to 73.90% in New Hanover County,” Superintendent Dr. Tim Markley said.
Both African-American and Hispanic students showed between a six and 12-point increase in their rate of graduation. Economically disadvantaged and students with limited English proficiency also showed a six point-plus increase.
Another improvement was made in the number of schools rated as Honor Schools of Excellence. Six elementary schools and one high school obtained this rating by scoring at or above grade level, making expected or high growth and meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). These schools include Codington Elementary, Eaton Elementary, Holly Tree Elementary, Ogden Elementary, Parsley Elementary, Wrightsville Beach Elementary, and Isaac Bear Early College High School.
Ten New Hanover County schools were identified as Schools of Distinction: Anderson Elementary, Bellamy Elementary, College Park Elementary, Murray Middle School, Myrtle Grove Middle School, Noble Middle School, Roland-Grise Middle School, Trask Middle School, Ashley High School, and Laney High School. Most other New Hanover County schools were distinguished as Schools of Progress and no schools were deemed as low performing.
For more information on testing in NHCS, please visit the NC Department of Public Instruction’s website at
