The New York State Education Department released its list of High Achieving and High Progress Schools on June 18, 2019. Three Vestal Central Schools - Vestal High School, African Road Elementary and Vestal Hills Elementary, were on the list for this honor.
"The teachers and administrators at these Recognition Schools have taken to heart the critical mission of educating the whole child," said Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa. "Our priority is fostering equity for our children across New York. These schools serve as models of the levels of performance we seek for all schools to able to achieve in the future."
Under the prior accountability system, Vestal High School and Vestal Hills Elementary were previously identified as Reward Schools - five times for Vestal High and four times for Vestal Hills.
Recognition Schools are identified as such because they are among the top performing under the Every Student Succeeds Act for performance, student growth, and/or graduation rate, as well as met or exceeded either the school or state measures of interim progress for English Language Arts and mathematics, rate of Chronic Absenteeism and College, Career and Civic Readiness; and met the federally required 95 percent participation rate in ELA and Math assessments.
Of the Recognition Schools identified across the State, 280 are outside of NYC, and 14 were in the Southern Tier.