The Alabama Department of Education released new report cards for all public schools Friday. Hartselle City Schools improved over last year, receiving a 94 overall – up from 92. 

Scores for individual schools are broken down as follows: 

• Barkley Bridge Elementary: 98 
• Crestline Elementary: 93
• F.E. Burleson Elementary: 88
• Hartselle Intermediate: 92
• Hartselle Junior High: 92
• Hartselle High School: 94 

Grades for neighboring school systems trailed Hartselle. Morgan County came in with a B at 87 – an improvement, however, over the 83 in 2018.
Athens City, Decatur City and Limestone and Lawrence counties also earned Bs. Annual letter grades for public schools were implemented last year under a 2012 state law sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur.
According to the ALSDE, the letter grades are based not just on the latest test scores but on how much students improve in reading and math from one year to the next.
According to a press release, the State Report Card is the culmination of huge amounts of data pertaining to the 2018-19 school year that was gathered by the department – “everything from individual school academic performance and student demographic profiles, to college and career readiness and educator credential/demographics,” the release reads, all of which is available for review on the state’s website.
Hartselle City Schools Superintendent Dr. Dee Dee Jones said she was excited with the high school and the improvement over last year.

“I’m excited for our administration and our teachers – our students, too … they knew the goals, and they knew what they had to do,” Jones said. “Each school had a goal they wanted to achieve. I attribute it to staying focused and really monitoring and having data meetings and having those discussions.”
Jones added that focusing on a solution for chronic absenteeism helped the system as a whole improve on last year’s score.
“In addition to academic growth and academic achievements, we focused on lowering our chronic absenteeism and really reminding parents that we need to have their students in school,” she said.
Already looking ahead to next year, Jones said growth at the top end will be difficult but is paramount to continuing the tradition of Hartselle City Schools being successful.
“Growth is very hard – when you’re already scoring high, and you’ve earned a 90, it’s hard to make sure students are growing even at the top end,” Jones said. “You have to find ways to continue to challenge students, and that was something that we had to work on. We will have to continue to sustain what we’re doing.
“I’m very proud of the work done by everyone – all six schools.”