School Grades are In; Chamberlain High Earns its First 'A'

When the Florida Department of Education released grades for high schools Wednesday, Hillsborough County found reason to celebrate.

Twenty-five of the district’s 27 schools earned A or B grades for the 2010-11 school year — a record, according to Hillsborough school district spokesman Stephen P. Hegarty.

Chamberlain High was one of five county schools to earn its first A, joining Brandon, Plant City, Spoto and Steinbrenner high schools.

Chamberlain assistant principal Richard Scionti hovered anxiously over a computer at the school this morning along with several other staffers and teachers. As soon as the good news was posted on the education department's website, Scionti said the group erupted into cheers and even disbelief.

"Did they calculate it right?" Scionti said he heard someone ask. Before they found out about the A, "We thought we had a chance at a B,” said Scionti. “One of the pieces that we needed to fall into place was when we had our bottom quartile move up last year" in test scores, Scionti said. "So it was just shocking, exciting and surprising."

Scionti said the credit for Chamberlain's three year climb from a D to an A extends well beyond the campus. "I'm excited for the community," he said. "In any school to me the community is vital. It's a collabarotive effort. We've got great parent support at Chamberlain High School and always have."

As for whether there will be a school celebration, Scionti said, "Too soon to say," as principal Thomas Morrill was out sick today. "I'm sure once he gets back, I'm sure there'll be some kind of conversastion as to what we can do.”  

A look at how other area schools fared, according to the department of education’s website:

• earned a B grade for the second straight year.

• Middleton High earned a D grade, down from a C last year.

The district as a whole had 93 percent of its high schools earn A or B grades. This is an increase from last year’s 79 percent.

Statewide 78 percent of high schools made A or B grades.

School grades are based on a number of factors including FCAT scores, participation in accelerated courses and graduation rates.

For more information about school grades, visit the department of education online.