R-5 schools receive high marks from the state

* District is accredited "with distinction" for the seventh year in a row.

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

It's official -- the Nevada R-5 School District has once again received the Distinction in Performance status it has had since 1999. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, recently posted the Annual Report Cards for all 524 school districts in Missouri.

"For the year 2006-'07, the Board of Education, administration, faculty and staff of the Nevada R-5 School District are pleased to present the information contained within this document," The district's home Web page says. "This information includes various characteristics of our community and our school district. It provides data on a variety of student performance criteria, district averages, comparisons with schools of similar size, and comparisons to the state averages. School districts are evaluated by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education based upon standards being met in 14 critical areas."

Some of the 14 areas considered for the report are: Student achievement in grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-11, attendance rate in excess of 95 percent, an 89 percent placement rate of students attending college or post-secondary instruction after high school, and student achievement on the ACT.

"This level of achievement is a strong indicator that the Nevada R-5 School District is providing quality educational programs that are making a difference with our students," Superintendent Craig Noah said.

Noah estimated that less than 5 percent of school districts received the Distinction in Performance award.

"It's the seventh year in a row we have our accreditation with distinction," Noah said. "It's quite an achievement."

Noah said everyone in the district can take pride in the district's accomplishments.

"It's a collaborative effort," Noah said. "It takes everybody's talents; students, their families, school staff, educators and administrators. Everyone should be proud of what we've accomplished."

The report can be viewed online through the district's Web page, found at http://nevada.k12.mo.us, or a copy can be obtained from the districts offices at the Nevada High School.