Solon Schools Again Rated As Best In Ohio

SOLON, OH — For the third straight year, the Solon School District has been rated as the best in Ohio by the state's Department of Education (ODE). The school system was one of only six districts in the state to receive an 'A' grade in the achievement category.

"Consistently reaching such high levels of achievement does not come easily. It is the result of a relentless commitment to our district mission of inspiring excellence for all students," said Solon Superintendent Joseph Regano in an emailed statement.

The ODE issued grades for the various categories based off a performance index. Solon had the highest index score in the achievement category — 111. (To stay up to date on local stories, subscribe to the Patch Solon newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

Here's how the district was graded:

• Achievement: A
  • The Achievement component represents the number of students who passed the state tests and how well they performed on these tests.
• Gap Closing: B
  • The Gap Closing component shows how well schools are meeting the performance expectations for our most vulnerable populations of students in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and graduation.
• Progress: A
  • The Progress component looks closely at the growth that all students are making based on their past performances.
• Graduation Rate: A
  • The Graduation Rate component looks at the percent of students who are successfully finishing high school with a diploma in four or five years.
• Prepared for Success: B
  • Whether training in a technical field or preparing for work or college, the Prepared for Success component looks at how well prepared students are for all future opportunities.

“We are proud of the effort and passion for learning our students demonstrate every day in the classroom,” Regano added. “We know we always have more work to do to ensure we are doing everything possible to move student learning forward and preparing students for future success. The release of the report cards today reflects the fruits of that labor. Congratulations to our students, staff, families and the entire community on this tremendous achievement.”

Last year, Regano, along with other superintendents from across the state, criticized the state report cards and the assessment gathering process. Regano urged the state to find more consistency in its testing.

This year, the tests remained largely the same from the previous year and Regano held back on further criticism. The state saw slight improvements across the board.

"Everyone is encouraged that scores are going up. It takes time. It showed this year that there weren’t as many changes as previous years. It was a little less volatile," Tammy Strom, spokesperson for the Solon School told Patch.

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