The Tennessee Department of Education (DOE) has named Lakeland School System (LSS) an Exemplary School District for the third time in four years of eligibility, and both of Lakeland’s schools have been named 2018-19 Reward Schools.
LSS was one of just 20 Exemplary School Districts in Tennessee and the only one in Shelby County.
Links from DOE website:
https://www.tn.gov/content/tn/education/data/accountability/2019-district-accountability.html
https://www.tn.gov/education/news/2019/8/15/tdoe-releases-tnready-results-for-2019.html
Dr. Ted Horrell, superintendent for the LSS, made the announcement today (8.15.19), and explained, “Exemplary districts meet state-set requirements for student achievement and student growth in total student population as well as in individual sub-groups of students.
“The recognition reflects the performance of students at the K-4 Lakeland Elementary School (LES) and at the 5-8 Lakeland Middle Preparatory School (LMPS).
“In addition, both Lakeland Elementary and Lakeland Middle Preparatory were named 2019 Reward Schools which is the highest distinction available to public schools in Tennessee. The Department of Education released data today that show Lakeland School System is the #1 ranked district in the state for grades 3-5 achievement, and the #2 ranked district in the state for grades 6-8 achievement.”
He said both LES and LMPS received TVAAS (Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System) composite scores of 5 which indicates the highest levels of growth possible in the state’s accountability system. Lakeland School System also received an overall TVAAS composite score of 5.
“Last year, our middle school students were not able to demonstrate what they had learned due to the failure of the state’s online testing platform,” said Dr. Horrell. “This year, our teachers and students in grades 3-8 proved they are among the highest performing in the state. We couldn’t be prouder of these three designations and what they say about the quality of education in our system.”
Matt Adler is principal of LMPS. Joretha Lockhart is principal at LES.
Lakeland School Board Chairman Kevin Floyd said,
“It’s hard to imagine better results for our system. Our students are much more than test scores, but these results validate the hard work of our teachers, staff, administration and students in the classroom.”
State rankings in Shelby County
Information from the DOE website shows that Lakeland grades 3-5 had an “on track” or “mastered” score of 76.7% as the #1 district in the state. They are followed by the #2 district, Arlington, 75%; #3 Germantown, 74.8%; #5 Collierville, 71.4%; #8 Bartlett, 59.6%; #94 Millington, 35%; and #121, Shelby, 29.1%.
Among grades 6-8, Williamson County took the #1 spot with 70.5%; Lakeland as #2 with 61%; #3 Germantown, 59.5%; #5 Collierville, 57.2%; #8 Arlington, 52.9%; #26 Bartlett, 43%; #109 Millington, 28.1%; and #133 Shelby, 20.5%
LES was part of Shelby County Schools until Memphis surrendered its charter and all Memphis schools became part of the Shelby County System. Lakeland formed its own school system, along with other municipalities, and opened to students as the Lakeland School System in August 2014 with one school. LMPS was opened to students in August 2017.
High school students in Lakeland attend Arlington High School (AHS) via an interlocal between the two cities until a high school is built in Lakeland. Plans are on the table to finance the first high school in the City and open to 9th graders estimated by August 2022. Cost would be $40 million to add grades 9-12 behind the current middle school if a USDA loan is approved for the school.
High School rankings, according to the DOE website, grades 9-12, rank Williamson County as #1, 62.8%. Germantown is #4, 56.3%; #5 Collierville, 54.8%; #14 Arlington, 43%; #20 Bartlett, 40.6%; #95 Millington, 23.6%; and #122 Shelby, 16.7%.
