Schools see high rankings

Some Columbia County schools achieved top rankings in the state, according to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, which released its Spring 2002 Report Card for Parents on Tuesday.

Among the 1,053 elementary schools in the state, Stevens Creek Elementary School was ranked third.

Richmond County's Walker Traditional Elementary School and John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School were ranked first in the state.

Other top elementary schools in Columbia County included 32nd-ranked Riverside Elementary and 34th-ranked Blue Ridge Elementary.

"We had some of our schools positioned pretty well," Columbia County school Superintendent Tommy Price said. He said he wanted to reserve additional comment until he had time to analyze the data.

Some of the lowest-ranking schools in the county were 398th-ranked Euchee Creek Elementary School and 289th-ranked North Columbia Elementary.

Among the state's 427 middle schools, the highest-ranking middle school in Columbia County was 11th-ranked Riverside. All of the others ranked between 30th and 51st except for Harlem Middle, which ranked 95th.

Harlem High, which ranked 196th, was the only high school in Columbia County that did not rank among the state's top 50 schools. Among the state's 339 high schools, Lakeside - which was ranked 22nd - achieved the county's highest rating. Evans was 34th, and Greenbrier was 47th.

In McDuffie County, Thomson High School was ranked 248th in the state, while Thomson Middle was ranked 220th. Dearing Elementary School was ranked 321st, while Norris Elementary School was ranked 596th.

The report card ranks schools as a guide to help parents make informed decisions about the quality of public education in Georgia. This is the sixth year the report has been issued.

Data reported in the report card include district spending per pupil, enrollment, all test subject scores and data broken down by gender and race, English proficiency, disability and socioeconomic status.

The primary measure of pupil achievement is the average of the percentage of pupils passing the reading and math sections of the 2001 Criterion Referenced Competency Test. The Georgia Department of Education, which issues a similar report card, and the Georgia Office of Education Accountability and the National Center for Education Statistics provided the data for the report.

The foundation is a nonpartisan, member-supported research and education foundation that focuses on state policy issues.