MADISON – The Alabama State Department of Education has issued its 2022-2023 State Report Card that assigns an “A” through “F” for each district and its individual schools.

“I am pleased to report that Madison City Schools yet again earned an “A” with a grade of 94. Not only did we get an “A” for the district as a whole, every single one of our schools earned an “A,” MCS Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols said in his recent District Update.

Bob Jones and James Clemens high schools both scored 91. Liberty Middle School’s rating was 93, while Discovery Middle School scored 91.

Scores for Madison’s elementary schools, starting with the highest rating, are Heritage, 99; Columbia and Horizon, both rated at 97; Madison elementary and Midtown, both scoring 94; and Mill Creek and Rainbow, both with a score of 96.

To view the report card, visit statereportcard.alsde.edu/SelectSchool.aspx. In the “Select a School” box, click the “System” dropdown list and scroll to click “Madison City.” In the “School” box, click the Madison school to review in the dropdown list. (For example, click “Bob Jones High School.” The “OVERALL SCORE – 2023” appears in the upper left of the window.)

To view MCS’ overall statistics, in the “School” box, click “Madison City” in the dropdown list.

MCS has earned an “A” consistently as a district and by individual school since the state department launched the A-F report cards for the 2016-2017 school year, Nichols said. (The state suspended report cards for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years because of COVID-19.)

MCS is among only nine school districts out of 140 statewide that has never earned less than an “A” during the state’s grading years.

“Compared to our straight-A peers, MCS has nearly twice the enrollment and number of schools. This achievement speaks to the dedication and support of teachers, staff, administrators, board members, students, parents, community members and the way our team utilizes our resources,” Nichols said.

The report cards evaluate academic achievement and growth, chronic absenteeism and progress in English Language or EL proficiency for elementary and middle schools. At the high school level, the report cards measure graduation rate and college/career readiness, he said.

“While we are proud of our report cards, we recognize the need to strive to continually improve,” Nichols said. For example, MCS will implement a Math Mastery Program, founded on the 2016 Math Course of Study, for middle schools in January 2024. This change was in progress before the state issued its report cards.

“We recognized the need for change in middle school math after receiving the 2023 ACAP (Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program) math scores,” Nichols said.

In the future, middle-school mathematics assessments will include longer unit assessments with formative quizzes throughout each unit. “In place of retakes, students can receive partial credit on an assessment through error analysis,” Nichols said. Middle-school parents and students have received detailed information about the new guidelines.