Henry County Schools Demonstrates Improvements in Key Indicators on 2024 CCRPI

HENRY COUNTY, GA – The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) today released the 2023-2024 College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), detailing school and district performance across the state of Georgia.

This year’s CCRPI release provides new insights into performance gains over the 2023 release, which was the first fully-informed CCRPI in four years due to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each CCRPI component – Closing Gaps, Content Mastery, high school Graduation Rate Progress, and Readiness – has a 0-100 score. Districtwide highlights include:

• The overall district-level Content Mastery performance increased across all levels – elementary, middle, and high – by an average of 1.56 percentage points per level, with high schools showing the most growth of 3.2 percentage points.
• A total of 19 elementary schools, seven middle schools, and seven high schools showed increased Content Mastery from 2023 to 2024.
• Closing Gaps performance increased by 26 percentage points from 2023 to 2024 (i.e., yellow and green flags), showing progress toward meeting improvement targets, with the largest gains in elementary school (+59 percentage points).
• A total of 10 elementary schools, five middle schools, and four high schools showed increased Progress from 2023 to 2024.
• Overall Readiness, which analyzes student attendance, literacy rates, and course participation, also increased across all levels by an average of 1.03 percentage points per level, with high schools showing the most growth of 1.9 percentage points.
• The CCRPI Graduation Rate of 87.7, which combines both four- and five-year graduation rates, outperformed the state by two percentage points.

“Across Henry County Schools, we believe all students can learn at or above grade level, and we will focus our support, so every child has access to a world-class education,” said Superintendent Dr. John Pace III. “We are committed to working tirelessly to ensure every student has the resources and opportunities needed to increase academic achievement and postsecondary success.”

School-level highlights from the 2024 CCRPI reporting cycle, reflecting gains over 2023, include:

Content Mastery

Overall, a total of 33 elementary, middle, and high schools showed gains in Content Mastery, increasing by 12 schools over 2023.

At the elementary school level, 19 schools showed gains in Content Mastery, increasing by three schools over 2023. They include Cotton Indian (+9.1), Flippen (+6.2), Tussahaw (+6.1), Rock Spring (+5.8), Locust Grove (+5.7), Stockbridge (+4.2), New Hope (+3.7), Red Oak (+3.4), Hampton (+3.2), Pleasant Grove (+3.1), Mt. Carmel (+3), Ola (+2.7), Smith-Barnes (+2.2), Unity Grove (+1.5), Woodland (+1.5), Hickory Flat (+1.4), Fairview (+1.1), Rocky Creek (+0.2), and Dutchtown (+0.1).

Three elementary schools, New Hope (71.4), East Lake (71.3), and Timber Ridge (68), outperformed the state 2024 Content Mastery score of 67.8.  

At the middle school level, seven schools showed gains in Content Mastery, increasing by five schools over 2023. They include Ola (+4.5), Woodland (+3.9), Austin Road (+3.1), Union Grove (+2.4), Eagle’s Landing (+0.9), Dutchtown (+0.5), and Stockbridge (+0.3).

Two middle schools, Union Grove (73.3) and Ola (68.4), outperformed the state 2024 Content Mastery score of 64.

At the high school level, seven schools showed gains in Content Mastery, increasing by four schools over 2023. They include Dutchtown (+10.7), McDonough (+10.3), Ola (+9.2), Luella (+6.3), Locust Grove (+3.5), Union Grove (+2.3), and Hampton (+1.3).

Two high schools, Ola (77.7) and Union Grove (77.3), outperformed the state 2024 Content Mastery score of 68.2.

Progress

Overall, a total of 19 elementary, middle, and high schools showed Progress increases over 2023.

At the elementary school level, 10 schools showed gains in Progress: Rock Spring (+21), Red Oak (+12.9), New Hope (+10.4), Locust Grove (+5.5), Fairview (+4.7), Hickory Flat (+1.8), Austin Road (+1.3), Smith-Barnes (+1.1), Cotton Indian (+0.1), and Ola (+0.1).

Six elementary schools – Rock Spring (94.8), Smith-Barnes (92), New Hope (89.1), Locust Grove (87.6), Mt. Carmel (87.1), and Timber Ridge (87) – outperformed the state 2024 Progress score of 86.2.

At the middle school level, five schools showed gains in Progress: Ola (+8.7), Woodland (+8.2), Dutchtown (+7.5), McDonough (+0.8), and Austin Road (+0.2).

Three middle schools, Ola (89.9), Woodland (84.2), and Union Grove (82.7) outperformed the state Progress score of 82.3.

At the high school level, four schools showed gains in Progress: Luella (+5.4), McDonough (+2.8), Locust Grove (+1.8), and Dutchtown (+0.9).
 
Five high schools – Ola (99.4), Dutchtown (94.7), McDonough (93.6), Union Grove (91.3), and Woodland (85.6) – exceeded the state 2024 Progress performance of 82.7.

Readiness 

A majority of HCS schools at each level saw increases in Readiness scores.

At the elementary school level, 17 schools showed gains in Readiness: Hampton (+4), Pate’s Creek (+3.3), New Hope (+3), Woodland (+2.4), Cotton Indian (+1.6), Rock Spring (+1.4), Locust Grove (+1.2), Tussahaw (+1.2), Dutchtown (+1.1), Red Oak (+1.1), Mt. Carmel (+0.9), Smith-Barnes (+0.8), Oakland (+0.7), Stockbridge (+0.7), Ola (+0.4), and Austin Road (+0.3).

Additionally, four HCS elementary schools – New Hope (86.9), East Lake (85.3), Timber Ridge (83.9), and Ola (83.3) – outperformed the state 2024 Readiness score of 83.2.

An impressive 82% of HCS middle schools increased or maintained in Readiness: Hampton (+3.2), Ola (+1.5), Locust Grove (+1.4), Luella (+1.4), Union Grove (+1.4), Woodland (+1.3), Dutchtown (+1), Eagle’s Landing (+1), and Austin Road (maintained).

Four middle schools – Union Grove (90.2), Ola (85.3), Woodland (84.3), and Dutchtown (83) – outperformed the state Readiness score of 82.8.

Readiness, which also factors in accelerated enrollment, pathway completion, and college and career readiness at the high school level, improved in 80% of district high schools: McDonough (+7.6), Ola (+5.5), Woodland (+4), Union Grove (+3.5), Eagle’s Landing (+2.9), Stockbridge (+2), Dutchtown (+1.4), and Locust Grove (+0.6).

Two high schools, Ola (81.9) and Union Grove (78.5), exceeded the state Readiness score of 73.3.

Closing Gaps

The rollout of the state’s newly adjusted and adapted math curriculum occurred during the 2024 school year. Due to GaDOE mathematics and Algebra curriculum changes, Closing Gaps scores in CCRPI did not include a measure for mathematics at all levels. Consequently, Closing Gaps scores for the 2023 and 2024 CCRPI reporting cycles are not comparable.

Four elementary schools – Cotton Indian, Locust Grove, New Hope, and Rock Spring – matched the state’s Closing Gaps performance of 100 for the 2024 report.

Four HCS middle schools – Ola (100), Union Grove (90), Woodland (78.6), and Austin Road (70.6) – outperformed the state 2024 Closing Gaps score of 68.3.

Five HCS high schools – Dutchtown (100), McDonough (100), Ola (100), Locust Grove (90.55), and Luella (89.5) – exceeded the state 2024 Closing Gaps performance of 81.7.

Exceptional Gains

Six HCS elementary schools – Cotton Indian, Locust Grove, New Hope, Ola, Red Oak, and Rock Spring – saw growth in all four CCRPI components over 2023.

New Hope outperformed the state in all four components.

“These results reflect the impact of our entire team, which consistently holds high expectations for each other and each student in our building,” said New Hope Elementary School Principal Dr. Micki Foster. “Our belief in children, strong desire to create meaningful learning opportunities, and an intense focus on instruction continue to lead to amazing student outcomes. We are extremely proud of our bright Knights for their continuous growth and academic excellence!”

Four middle schools – Austin Road, Dutchtown, Ola, and Woodland – improved in all four CCRPI indicators.

Ola and Union Grove outperformed the state in all four CCRPI components in 2024.

“This achievement highlights the dedication and ongoing hard work of our teachers, leaders, staff, students, parents, and a community committed to Ola Middle School’s academic success and continuous improvement,” said Ola Middle School Principal Christine Anderson. “Together, we set a standard of excellence that inspires growth and achievement. I am beyond proud to recognize the hard work of the Ola Middle School team.”

“Union Grove Middle School’s commitment to exceeding above and beyond the academic and operational expectations of the school, district, and community has contributed directly to growth in multiple areas of college and career readiness,” added Union Grove Middle School Principal Dwayne Richards.

“Our staff’s intentional focus on providing rigorous academic instruction, alignment of instruction to state standards, and use of instructional strategies designed to address the academic needs of diverse learners contributed to overall school growth and achievement.”

Over half of HCS high schools improved their 2024 CCRPI graduation rate, including EXCEL Academy (+3.3), McDonough (+3), Hampton (+2.3), Ola (+1.3), Union Grove (+0.5), and Luella (+0.4).

Eight high schools – Ola (94.5), Union Grove (93.2), Hampton (91.4), Dutchtown (91.3), Eagle’s Landing (88.5), Woodland (87.7), Luella (87.6), McDonough (86.5) – exceeded the state’s graduation rate of 85.7 in 2024.

Two schools saw performance highlights across all five high school-level CCRPI components. McDonough High School demonstrated increases in all five CCRPI components for 2024, while Ola High School outperformed the state in all five CCRPI components in 2024.

“At McDonough High School, our success is rooted in the unwavering dedication of our teachers, leaders, and staff, who believe in the limitless potential of every student,” said McDonough High School Principal Monica Blasingame. “The performances reflect the resilience, hard work, and determination of our students, who continue to rise to the challenges before them each and every day. This recognition is a testament to the collective efforts of our school community to remove barriers, create opportunities, and empower our students to achieve their fullest potential.”

“We are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication to academic success displayed by all our Mustang students and teachers,” added Ola High School Principal Nick Ellis. “Their focus on improvement and tireless work in the classroom showed in these outstanding results for Ola High School.”

About the CCRPI

Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), each U.S. state is required to have a statewide accountability system that complies with federal requirements, providing information on how well schools are performing. The CCRPI meets that requirement in Georgia and satisfies requirements for school accountability in state law.

Since the first significantly COVID-19-disrupted school year of 2020, the CCRPI has slowly made a return to informing local results with state and federal accountability systems.

Last year’s reporting marked a return to the fully informed CCRPI system, the first since the 2019 cycle. Unlike the CCRPI reporting that occurred before 2023, the new CCRPI system moved away from a single score for schools. This change was first implemented in 2022 under an addendum from the U.S. Department of Education and made permanent this year under an amendment to Georgia’s ESSA plan.

The adjustment to the reporting system was to compel schools and stakeholders to analyze the different aspects of school performance instead of a single data point. These individual data points help to paint a data picture of schools, allowing school and district leaders to triangulate instructional strategies to improve the holistic school experience for students and communities.

Earlier this week, the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) calculated a single CCRPI score for 2023 and 2024, averaged to identify the lower 25 percent of public schools across Georgia and published as the 2024 Georgia Promise Scholarship (SB233) School List.

“The list of schools associated with the Georgia Promise Act provides us an opportunity to view school accountability from a new perspective based on historical data of the CCRPI. In many cases, this list does not reflect the current performance of schools identified, and we embrace the opportunity to include this new perspective going forward,” said Superintendent Pace. “HCS has a mindset of continuous improvement. We believe all students can perform at or above grade level and will have an equal opportunity to do so, and we will use this new accountability component of the Promise Act as motivation to produce excellent results as we pursue the shared vision of our community and Board of Education as set forth in our Community-Inspired Strategic Plan.”

The district’s focus on continuous improvement and proactive governance has nurtured a culture dedicated to realizing academic excellence in every school across the district.

“Our focus remains on improving achievement through the lens of CCRPI for all schools,” said Chief Learning and Performance Officer Termerion McCrary. “We are making strides, but we know there is still critical work to do to ensure every student and student group achieves at the highest levels – an opportunity we fully embrace.”

To view 2024 CCRPI data, visit ccrpi.gadoe.org, or click here to access downloadable data.

About Henry County Schools

 Henry County Schools (HCS) is the eighth-largest school district in Georgia, consisting of 53 schools and located about 20 minutes south of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Over the past two decades, our community has grown in population from 113,000 residents to over 244,000 residents. Since 1999, student enrollment has grown from 21,000 to 43,000 students, and our number of employees has grown from 3,000 to 6,000.

HCS is “In Pursuit of Exceptional,” taking action to advance opportunities, access, and outcomes so that every student in our school district has Exceptional Support, Exceptional Access, and an Exceptional Future. In 2020, our Board of Education adopted our 2021-2026 Community-Inspired Strategic Plan and laid out a clear vision and mission for Henry County Schools. Our vision is to ensure a high-quality, world-class education for every student, and our mission is to empower all students with exceptional opportunities and access that lead to success in a global society.

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