Guilford County Schools Report Card Welcome Letter

Dear Visitor,

Welcome to the 2008-09 Guilford County Schools (GCS) Report Card. When the district launched the strategic plan in early 2009, the theme of excellence in all areas, including academics, character development and operations, became a priority for GCS.

Our community, including students, parents, employees and community members,
responded quickly and positively to the higher level of expectations, and it showed in our successes last school year.

Certainly, some changes in how scores were calculated affected the test scores.
Nonetheless, we made significant gains because we raised the level of expectations first and then provided support to meet those expectations.

Our reading and math scores increased dramatically at all elementary and middle school grades. In fact, many grades attained double-digit gains. Our schools experienced gains in End-of-Course geometry, chemistry and U.S. History, and made double-digit, district-wide gains in elementary and middle school science.

This past school year, approximately 70 percent of our schools met the challenging federal standard of making adequate yearly progress, the highest percentage in our history.

In 2007-08, Guilford County Schools had just one of our 120 schools qualify as a school of excellence or honor school of excellence, where 90 percent or more of the school's students performed on grade level. This past year, after raising the level of expectations, we had 10.

The 2008-09 graduation rate for GCS was 79.9 percent, compared to the statewide rate of 71.7 percent, and three of the district's schools graduated 100 percent of students. Also, the Class of 2009 received more than $78 million in scholarships - another record-breaking number for GCS. Overall, we have made significant strides in boosting student achievement, but we have a lot of work to do to ensure all of our students reach their full potential and achieve educational excellence.

Whether you are a parent, student, employee or community member, we look forward to working with you. Together, we can make GCS the top school district in the nation.

Please feel free to contact any of our schools or our Accountability and Research Office at 336-370-8323 with questions about what you see here.

Thank you for your interest in GCS.
Sincerely,

Maurice "Mo" Green
Superintendent