Peabody Schools Report Plan For Progress On DESE Report Card

PEABODY, MA — Superintendent Josh Vadala told Patch that making strides in Grade 9 proficiency and creating more high school advanced-credit coursework are two areas the district is looking to improve based on the Department of Elementary and Secondary 2020-21 report card released this week.

While the district scored at or above the state average in most areas measured on the report card, it was well behind in the percentage in those two categories. Because of the pandemic year, DESE did not make accountability determinations for the 2020-2021 school year.

According to the report card, 53.1 percent of Peabody Veterans Memorial High freshmen successfully passed all of their courses, compared to a 75.8 percent state average. The report card said 44.6 percent of juniors and seniors completed advanced coursework, compared to a statewide average of 65.3 percent.

"PVMHS has begun to take steps to address Grade 9 passing rates and access to advanced coursework," Vadala told Patch. "We know the transition from grade 8 to freshman year is extremely challenging and last year's 9th graders were particularly impacted by the hybrid schedule.

"We've developed some credit recovery options and personal connections through our advisory program to ensure we can support these students to get back on track. In addition, the high school staff has been working to create a variety of pathways to advanced coursework. We are hopeful that a Barr Foundation grant will help in both these areas as well."

Peabody Public Schools' enrollment was also down more than 200 students from 2019 to 2021 from 5,994 to 5,776. Vadala said much of that regression was because of parents not enrolling kindergarten students during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that this year's numbers suggest the trend has reversed.

"We're happy to report that this year's enrollment numbers are back to where they were pre-pandemic," Vadala said. "We've seen a large number of kindergarten students enroll as well as the option for our virtual school, Peabody PREP (virtual academy)."

The district was at about the state average when it came to students taking art, music and theater classes with Peabody at 77.2 percent and state at 77.5. The 88 percent four-year graduation rate is near the state average of 89 percent, while the dropout rate fell from 2.8 percent in 2018 and 2.4 percent in 2019 to 1.6 percent in 202o (state average: 1.6 percent).

Peabody High had 48.4 percent of students go on to a four-year college (state average: 52 percent) and 12.5 percent of students go on to a two-year college (state average: 11.9 percent). The district's 78 percent of students who met or exceeded expectations in the MCAS exam was slightly higher than the state average of 76.

Peabody spends an average of $14,029 per student each year, according to the report, which is more than $2,000 less than the state average of $16,377.

The full DESE district and individual school report cards can be found here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)