By Bill Grubb
News Editor

ROGERSVILLE - Impressive, that is how Rogersville City School Director Rebecca Isaacs describes the school's performance as measured by the 2012 Report Card.
    "The state has now released the 2012 report card; and, not surprisingly, based on our exemplary district and reward school status, our report card is impressive," Isaacs said.  
    The 2012 state Report Card offers detailed breakdowns of last year's unprecedented statewide student achievement growth and presents the most recent data on graduation rate, demographics and school-level test scores, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.
    "We think it's important for parents and students, as well as school and district leaders, to know how well their schools are doing each year," said Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman. "Tennessee is focused on continuous growth, and our Report Card shows us where we are making gains and where we need more work."
    As Tennessee continued to implement its First to the Top education reforms, performance on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) improved for the second year in a row in 2012, as students made the largest gains in the history of the test.
    State officials said last year, elementary and middle school students grew in 23 out of 24 TCAP measures, and proficiency levels on several high school End of Course exams improved, even as more students enrolled in higher-level classes such as Algebra II due to more rigorous graduation requirements. Locally, achievement is also evident.
    "Again, we have all As in achievement and grew numerically in every content area," the RCS director explained.  "On the value-added side, three of the four content scores rose by a letter grade, making those scores A, A, A, and B up from B, B, A, and C in 2011."
    According to Isaacs, RCS Principal William Walker will be going over the report card in specific detail during grade level meetings next week but she plans on attending as many of those meetings as possible to let staffers know "how impressed I am by the hard work of our teachers and students and support of our board of education, classified personnel, parents, and community." 
    "The hard work of our staff and students is certainly reflected in our 2012 report card.  Our achievement remains at high levels again this year with growth and A scores in every content area," Isaacs added.
    The director also noted that even though the report card shows progress, their is still more room to grow.
    "In depth study of the report card always gives us focus areas for improvement, and we will continue to work hard to give our students every opportunity for success and to help our state become the fastest growing in student achievement nationwide," she concluded.
    State Senator Mike Faulk (R-Church Hill) congratulated educators across the state for their assistance in improving the Tennessee school system.
    "I cannot think of better news for education, and for Tennessee, than to learn we are headed in the right direction in giving our students more opportunities to succeed," said Faulk. "The news of these gains as cited in the Report Card are exactly what we wanted to hear.  Congratulations to our teachers, our students, our parents and our administrators for all the hard work they have done to help move Tennessee forward in student achievement."