Ashe Mountain Times

Four of the county's five schools earned “distinction” status for the 2011-2012 school year, according to information released by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. 

More than 80 percent of students performed at or above their grade level in reading and math at Ashe County High School, Ashe County Middle School, Mountain View Elementary, and Westwood Elementary, which earned all four “distinction” status.

Blue Ridge Elementary earned a “no distinction” status for the 2011-2012 school year as 60 to 70 percent of the school's students scored at or above grade level in reading and math. 

Ashe County High School 

The percentage of Ashe County High School students that scored at or above their grade level was 86.7 percent in English 1 and 87.4 percent in Biology. 

Only Algebra 1, at 74.9 percent, was below the state average of 78.7 percent. 

Four percent of Ashe County High School students were enrolled in advanced college prep courses, lower than the state average of five percent.

 The number of students enrolled in career and technical courses, 14 percent, was also lower than the state average of 15 percent. 

Out of 887 students at Ashe County High School, there were a total of 18 acts of crime or violence. Acts of crime or violence per 100 students, 2.03 was higher than state average of 1.4. 

ACHS met 15 of 15 annual measurable objectives, which replace the measures of adequate yearly progress, and include targets for cohort graduation rate, standardized test performance in reading and math, and attendance and was named a School of Distinction, High Growth. 

Ashe County Middle School 

Ninety percent of Ashe County Middle School seventh graders performed at or above their grade level in reading, while 76.7 percent of seventh graders performed at or above their grade level in math. 

Both measures outperformed the state average. 

In math, 76.8 percent of ACMS eighth graders performed at or above their grade level, while 89.2 percent of ACMS eighth graders performed at or above their grade level in reading. 

ACMS students outperformed the state average in both subjects. 

Out of 546 enrolled students, ACMS reported seven acts of crime or violence. 

Acts of crime or violence reported per 100 students, 1.28 was higher than the state average of .96. ACMS met 16 of 17 AMO targets and was named a School of Distinction, High Growth. 

Blue Ridge Elementary 

Overall, a lower percentage of Blue Ridge Elementary students performed at or above their grade level than the state average in both reading and math.

BRES third graders outperformed the state average in both reading and math, while the fourth and fifth grades had a smaller percentage of students scoring at or above the state average in both reading and math, the sixth grade showed mixed results, underperforming against the state average in reading, but scoring above the state average in math. 

BRES, with 60 percent to 100 percent of students performing at grade level did not meet expected growth, and earned the "no recognition" distinction, and met 15 of 17 AMO performance targets. 

Altogether, 17 percent of North Carolina elementary schools earned no recognition status. 

Out of 486 enrolled students, there were 0 acts of crime or violence, below the state average of .27 acts of crime or violence per 100 students. 

Mountain View Elementary 

Overall, a higher percentage of Mountain View Elementary students scored at or above their grade level in both reading and math, and all classes in grades 3-6 outperformed the state average in both reading and math. 

Mountain View fourth and sixth grades classes in particular, outperformed the state average in math with more than 95 percent of MVES students performing at or above their grade level in math. 

Out of 565 students, there were two acts of crime or violence, higher than the state average of .27 acts of crime or violence reported per 100 students. 

MVES met 19 of 19 AMO performance targets and enrolled 565 students, higher than the state average of 499 students, and earned School of Distinction, High Growth status. 

Westwood Elementary 

Overall a higher percentage of Westwood students performed at or above their grade level in both reading and math than the state average.

 A higher percentage of students scored at or above their grade level than the state average in reading and math in grades 3-6, with the exception of the third grade class that scored at the state average of 68.8 percent. 

Out of 619 enrolled students, there were two acts of crime or violence, larger than the state average of .27 acts of crime or violence reported per 100 students. 

Westwood Elementary enrolled 619 students in 2011-2012 larger than the state average of 499, and met 16 of 17 (AMO) performance targets.

Teacher qualifications

DPI also includes the number of teachers at each school that are considered “highly qualified,” as defined by federal law. 

All teachers in Ashe County Schools are considered “highly qualified,” with the exception of Ashe County Middle School, which reports 98 percent of its teachers are “highly qualified.” 

The percentage of teachers at Ashe County High School that hold advanced degrees is 45 percent, 44 percent at Ashe County Middle School, 45 percent at Blue Ridge Elementary, and 37 percent at Mountain View Elementary, and 41 percent at Westwood Elementary.