Royal High students close in on state goal

ROYAL CITY - Testing of 10th-graders last spring indicates students at Royal High School are nearing the state-mandated goal of 100 percent success in 2014.

"They're on cloud nine over there because they made AYP (adequate yearly progress)," Superintendent Rose Search said.

That wasn't all. Students demonstrated the school is on course for meeting the 2014 state goal.

According to Principal Jack Hill, 92 percent of 10th-graders passed the writing exam, and 90 percent passed the reading exam. Those are up from 79 percent and 69 percent respectively the previous year.

"I'm elated it's 90 percent," Search said.

Royal 10th graders did not do as well in Algebra end of course testing, with only 66 percent succeeding. However, that was up from 26 percent the previous year.

"That's an improvement of more than 10 percent. So we made safe harbor," Hill said.

Safe Harbor means the school won't be sanctioned even though the AYP number was 84 percent. If a school improves by 10 percent or more, there are no sanctions.

In science, which is not yet a part of the requirements, Royal 10th-graders improved from 22 percent in 2009 to 53 percent in 2010.

Hill said his teachers report the students can maintain this rate of improvement in the coming years. He said teachers and students are committed to the mission.

"We want 100 percent, and we're working for 100 percent," he said. "We tell them each and every day this is the standard."

"(The teachers) are all teaching reading, writing and math," Search said. "No matter what their class is, they're all teaching reading, writing and math."

- Staff report